Trade
Japan economy minister says TPP agreement difficult by year-end: report Reuters ...Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Saturday he saw progress in Asia-Pacific regional trade negotiations, although it would be difficult to reach an agreement by the end of the year, according to Jiji press...
US says TPP is its priority, as China touts free-trade zone AFP ...A China-backed vision for Asia-Pacific free trade is only a "long-term aspiration", a top US commerce official said Sunday, stressing that Washington remains focused on its own plans for a regional trade agreement...
US rules out major Trans-Pacific trade announcement at APEC Business Recorder ...There will be no "major announcement" on a Washington-backed Asia-Pacific free trade deal during a meeting of leaders from the region in Beijing this week, US Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Sunday...
State Battles
Republicans rule in the Missouri and Kansas statehouses, and the consequences could be profound Kansas City Star ...Missouri: The GOP is also expected to once again take aim at public employee unions by making it more difficult for them to collect dues from members. However, allowing employees in the private sector covered by union contracts to refuse to pay union dues or fees — more commonly known as right to work — still appears too steep a hill to climb, even with larger legislative majorities....Kansas: There also might be a run at limiting collective bargaining rights for teachers, especially after the teachers unions spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a failed attempt to defeat Brownback this year...
Nearly half of Indiana's charter schools doing poorly or failing WTHR ...nearly half of the state's 76 charter schools are doing poorly or failing...
Common construction wage at risk next year Kokomo Perspective ...If the common wage is eliminated, it will result in job loss and lower wages for local workers, according to Chet Fincher, business agent for the Carpenters Local 615...
How Voter Suppression Helped Produce the Lowest Turnout in Decades The Intercept ...the evidence is piling up that systematic voter suppression, including voter ID laws and dubious vote-fraud prevention software, played a significant part in keeping people from casting ballots, as well...
War on Workers
5 New Lows for Walmart—Just Last Month UK Progressive ...From slashing employee healthcare, to stalling on wage increases, to investing in unsustainable energy and selling offensively labeled Halloween costumes, Walmart has stooped to new lows in October. Walmart workers have been fighting back, such as two weeks ago when hundreds of employees and their supporters ralliedin front of Walmart heiress Alice Walton’s luxury New York City condo. Twenty-six of them were arrested...
A Blank Page in the S.E.C. Rule Book, Four Years Later New York Times ...Executives should return compensation earned improperly as a result of accounting shenanigans at their companies. But four years after Congress told the Securities and Exchange Commission to write a rule making it easier to recover unearned pay, that rule remains unwritten...
Lenders Can Now Disable Your Car When You're Driving on the Freeway Alternet ...Car dealers and automotive lenders are targeting those with poor credit by installing GPS-based kill switches, or starter-interrupt devices, on the cars that they sell...
Kaci Hickox, boyfriend leaving Maine after Ebola quarantine fight Portland Press Herald ...the couple will stay through Monday, after which a state court order expires and Hickox will no longer have to submit to daily health monitoring, inform state officials of travel plans and let them know if her health changes...
Worker killed in fall at Gillette-area power plant Casper Star Tribune ... Authorities are investigating after a worker was killed in a fall at a power plant in Gillette...
Worker at Ohio bowling alley dies when clothing gets caught in machinery, authorities say New York Daily News ...A maintenance worker at an Ohio bowling alley died Thursday in what a former colleague calls a "freak accident." David Geiger, 53, passed away when his clothing got caught in machinery while he was working on a pinsetter at Northwest Lanes in Fairfield, WCPO reported...
Showing posts with label IN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IN. Show all posts
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.06.14
Teamsters
Facebook’s Bus Drivers Seek Union New York Times ...they start work around 6 a.m. and do not finish until 9 p.m., 15 hours later. Now, some of these shuttle bus drivers, who get Facebook employees to work, are seeking representation by the Teamsters union...
Facebook workers 'like noblemen driven by servants' claims union The Telegraph ...Some of the drivers who ferry staff to the social network's headquarters in Menlo Park, California want to be part of the Teamsters union in order to get better conditions from the outside contractor they work for...
Uber Drivers Across The Country Are Organizing Their Largest Protest Yet Buzzfeed ...The California App-Based Drivers Association (CADA) – a non-profit dedicated to protecting fairness and transparency in the app-based car service industry – is mobilizing Uber drivers across the country and in some parts of the world to participate in what may be the largest coordinated Uber protest yet.
CADA, which is tied to the Teamsters Local 986 in L.A. , will be protesting at Uber’s L.A. offices on October 22 at noon and has encouraged all Uber drivers to gather at their local Uber offices...
Schakowsky walks picket line with Golan’s workers Skokie Review ... U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9, and 7th District Cook County Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia joined dozens of striking workers Friday on the picket line outside Golan’s Moving & Storage in Skokie. The workers are entering their third month on strike after voting convincingly to unionize and join Teamsters Local 705. But the workers say the company has refused to bargain with them in good faith over a first contract...
Trade
Japan-U.S. accord still seen as key to TPP deal Japan Times ...An agreement between Japan and the United States is still a key element before the envisioned Trans-Pacific Partnership can become a reality, according to informed sources...
TISA, Yet Another Secret “Trade” Threat New American ...The four-day TISA event took place September 22-25 at the Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters of the World Trade Organization. It was held in secret, behind closed doors, of course, the same as with the ongoing talks for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)…. the drafters intend for the text of the agreement to remain secret for five years after the proposed TISA rules take effect!...
Make no mistake - the TTIP is a move in the wrong direction (opinion) Ecologist ...A huge EU-US trade and investment deal may not be quite so dangerous as its opponents portray it, writes Gabriel Siles-Brügge - but it still represents a serious threat to governments' ability to regulate for the benefit of citizens and environment, and would entrench 'competitive' markets in public service provision...
State Battles
Scott Walker is not running for governor The Cap Times ...The remarkable thing about Gov. Scott Walker’s re-election campaign is that Walker makes little effort to hide the fact that he is not running for governor in 2014. He is running for president in 2016...
Governor Walker dismisses need for extended DMV hours Wisconsin Radio Network ...“We know that 300,000 registered voters in Wisconsin lack the ID cards now necessary. Without better DMV service hours and more convenient DMV locations, I’m convinced many of these people will be shut out of the November election.”...
ALEC has huge influence in Indiana (LTE) Indianapolis Star ...By ALEC's own account, recurring controversies have caused the organization to lose almost 400 state legislators as members in the last three years. However, ALEC highlights Indiana as having a 40 percent gain in legislative members, with many members in the Indiana General Assembly...
War on Workers
Income Inequality Has Regressed to 1820 Levels, Will Likely Keep Regressing Motherboard ...Globalization, the study finds, has the curious effect of making nations more equal relative to each other, but making the residents of the nations less equal relative to each other...
Shift to Bad Retirement Plans Threatens Retirees With Privation truthdig ...The United States’ largest employers are increasingly pushing their workers into inadequate retirement plans—and they acknowledge doing so...
Oil, rail industries want time to fix cars Associated Press ...The oil and railroad industries are urging federal regulators to allow them as long as seven years to upgrade existing tank cars that transport highly volatile crude oil, a top oil industry official said. The cars have ruptured and spilled oil during collisions, leading to intense fires...
Two injured as freight train derails in north Louisiana Reuters ...The conductor of a Union Pacific freight train and an engineer on board were injured on Sunday when it crashed into a tractor-trailer that was stuck on tracks in northern Louisiana, a spokesman for Union Pacific said...
1 Dead In NJ Crash Involving Tanker Truck, SUV myfoxphilly.com ...One person is dead after a crash involving a tanker truck and an SUV in Westville...
Mexico massacre victims feared to be missing students Reuters ...Bodies found in mass graves in southwestern Mexico are feared to be those of students who went missing last month after they clashed with corrupt local police, authorities said on Sunday...
A grand design for greater gridlock at National Labor Relations Board Los Angeles Times ...Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee thinks he has the solution to perceived problems at the National Labor Relations Board: Make the five-member body just as deadlocked as Congress...
Big Pharma Ripoffs on Cancer Patients Makes 60 Minutes Economic Populist ... In 2012 alone, of the 12 cancer drugs approved by the FDA, 11 cost over $100,000...
Facebook’s Bus Drivers Seek Union New York Times ...they start work around 6 a.m. and do not finish until 9 p.m., 15 hours later. Now, some of these shuttle bus drivers, who get Facebook employees to work, are seeking representation by the Teamsters union...
Facebook workers 'like noblemen driven by servants' claims union The Telegraph ...Some of the drivers who ferry staff to the social network's headquarters in Menlo Park, California want to be part of the Teamsters union in order to get better conditions from the outside contractor they work for...
Uber Drivers Across The Country Are Organizing Their Largest Protest Yet Buzzfeed ...The California App-Based Drivers Association (CADA) – a non-profit dedicated to protecting fairness and transparency in the app-based car service industry – is mobilizing Uber drivers across the country and in some parts of the world to participate in what may be the largest coordinated Uber protest yet.
CADA, which is tied to the Teamsters Local 986 in L.A. , will be protesting at Uber’s L.A. offices on October 22 at noon and has encouraged all Uber drivers to gather at their local Uber offices...
Schakowsky walks picket line with Golan’s workers Skokie Review ... U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9, and 7th District Cook County Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia joined dozens of striking workers Friday on the picket line outside Golan’s Moving & Storage in Skokie. The workers are entering their third month on strike after voting convincingly to unionize and join Teamsters Local 705. But the workers say the company has refused to bargain with them in good faith over a first contract...
Trade
Japan-U.S. accord still seen as key to TPP deal Japan Times ...An agreement between Japan and the United States is still a key element before the envisioned Trans-Pacific Partnership can become a reality, according to informed sources...
TISA, Yet Another Secret “Trade” Threat New American ...The four-day TISA event took place September 22-25 at the Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters of the World Trade Organization. It was held in secret, behind closed doors, of course, the same as with the ongoing talks for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)…. the drafters intend for the text of the agreement to remain secret for five years after the proposed TISA rules take effect!...
Make no mistake - the TTIP is a move in the wrong direction (opinion) Ecologist ...A huge EU-US trade and investment deal may not be quite so dangerous as its opponents portray it, writes Gabriel Siles-Brügge - but it still represents a serious threat to governments' ability to regulate for the benefit of citizens and environment, and would entrench 'competitive' markets in public service provision...
State Battles
Scott Walker is not running for governor The Cap Times ...The remarkable thing about Gov. Scott Walker’s re-election campaign is that Walker makes little effort to hide the fact that he is not running for governor in 2014. He is running for president in 2016...
Governor Walker dismisses need for extended DMV hours Wisconsin Radio Network ...“We know that 300,000 registered voters in Wisconsin lack the ID cards now necessary. Without better DMV service hours and more convenient DMV locations, I’m convinced many of these people will be shut out of the November election.”...
ALEC has huge influence in Indiana (LTE) Indianapolis Star ...By ALEC's own account, recurring controversies have caused the organization to lose almost 400 state legislators as members in the last three years. However, ALEC highlights Indiana as having a 40 percent gain in legislative members, with many members in the Indiana General Assembly...
War on Workers
Income Inequality Has Regressed to 1820 Levels, Will Likely Keep Regressing Motherboard ...Globalization, the study finds, has the curious effect of making nations more equal relative to each other, but making the residents of the nations less equal relative to each other...
Shift to Bad Retirement Plans Threatens Retirees With Privation truthdig ...The United States’ largest employers are increasingly pushing their workers into inadequate retirement plans—and they acknowledge doing so...
Oil, rail industries want time to fix cars Associated Press ...The oil and railroad industries are urging federal regulators to allow them as long as seven years to upgrade existing tank cars that transport highly volatile crude oil, a top oil industry official said. The cars have ruptured and spilled oil during collisions, leading to intense fires...
Two injured as freight train derails in north Louisiana Reuters ...The conductor of a Union Pacific freight train and an engineer on board were injured on Sunday when it crashed into a tractor-trailer that was stuck on tracks in northern Louisiana, a spokesman for Union Pacific said...
1 Dead In NJ Crash Involving Tanker Truck, SUV myfoxphilly.com ...One person is dead after a crash involving a tanker truck and an SUV in Westville...
Mexico massacre victims feared to be missing students Reuters ...Bodies found in mass graves in southwestern Mexico are feared to be those of students who went missing last month after they clashed with corrupt local police, authorities said on Sunday...
A grand design for greater gridlock at National Labor Relations Board Los Angeles Times ...Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee thinks he has the solution to perceived problems at the National Labor Relations Board: Make the five-member body just as deadlocked as Congress...
Big Pharma Ripoffs on Cancer Patients Makes 60 Minutes Economic Populist ... In 2012 alone, of the 12 cancer drugs approved by the FDA, 11 cost over $100,000...
Monday, September 22, 2014
Teamsters register members to vote so the billionaires don't call all the shots
Tomorrow is National Voter Registration Day, but for many Teamster locals EVERY day is voter registration day.
This year there are 36 governors up for election, and if you don't think that matters think again. Four years ago a crew of ALEC-backed candidates became governors and they applied ALEC economics to their states. The results have been disastrous.
Scott Walker was elected governor in Wisconsin and public service workers lost their collective bargaining rights. Now, Wisconsin faces a $1.8 billion budget deficit and the state is 33rd in the country in job creation. Last month, Wisconsin lost 4,300 jobs.
Same story in Kansas, where Sam Brownback slashed taxes for corporations and raised them for working-class families. The state's job growth is anemic and it faces hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue shortfalls. The New York Times reported,
In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder sneaked right-to-work past voters behind closed doors in a lame-duck session, after saying he wouldn't. Gov. Mitch Daniels did the same thing in Indiana.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott tried to privatize many of the state's prisons, and it was only the hard work of Teamster corrections officers that prevented that from happening.
Still think it doesn't matter if you vote? Fine, don't. Let the billionaires call the shots. But if you do think it matters and you haven't registered, click on this link: http://ibt.io/vote
It will take you to a web page where you can register online.
This year there are 36 governors up for election, and if you don't think that matters think again. Four years ago a crew of ALEC-backed candidates became governors and they applied ALEC economics to their states. The results have been disastrous.
 |
| Teamster Local 769's secretary-treasurer, Josh Zivalich |
Same story in Kansas, where Sam Brownback slashed taxes for corporations and raised them for working-class families. The state's job growth is anemic and it faces hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue shortfalls. The New York Times reported,
Mr. Brownback’s proudly conservative policies have turned out to be so divisive and his tax cuts have generated such a drop in state revenue that they have caused even many Republicans to revolt.In Ohio, John Kasich tried to do what Walker did in Wisconsin with SB5. It was only after a massive effort by Ohio Teamsters and other union members that SB5 was repealed.
In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder sneaked right-to-work past voters behind closed doors in a lame-duck session, after saying he wouldn't. Gov. Mitch Daniels did the same thing in Indiana.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott tried to privatize many of the state's prisons, and it was only the hard work of Teamster corrections officers that prevented that from happening.
Still think it doesn't matter if you vote? Fine, don't. Let the billionaires call the shots. But if you do think it matters and you haven't registered, click on this link: http://ibt.io/vote
It will take you to a web page where you can register online.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.31.14
Teamsters
Wage Watch: Court ruling could upend FedEx's business model Fortune ...In a ruling with the potential to upend the logistics industry, a three-judge panel on Wednesday decided that FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery drivers are employees of the company and not independent contractors, as FedEx had characterized them...
Trade
Top TPP negotiators to meet in Hanoi for 10-day trade talks Japan Times ...Top trade negotiators from 12 countries will hold 10-day talks in Hanoi from Monday, aiming to clinch a broad accord on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact by the end of November...
Wake up America Champions Trade Reform ...Post World War II we had about 19 million people employed directly in manufacturing – a sector where producers work. That was roughly 10% of the population. Today there are about 330 million people living in the United States. About 3.5% of the population makes the stuff we consume. ..
Wage Watch: Court ruling could upend FedEx's business model Fortune ...In a ruling with the potential to upend the logistics industry, a three-judge panel on Wednesday decided that FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery drivers are employees of the company and not independent contractors, as FedEx had characterized them...
Trade
Top TPP negotiators to meet in Hanoi for 10-day trade talks Japan Times ...Top trade negotiators from 12 countries will hold 10-day talks in Hanoi from Monday, aiming to clinch a broad accord on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact by the end of November...
Wake up America Champions Trade Reform ...Post World War II we had about 19 million people employed directly in manufacturing – a sector where producers work. That was roughly 10% of the population. Today there are about 330 million people living in the United States. About 3.5% of the population makes the stuff we consume. ..
State Battles
John Ketzenberger: Right to work and unions The Star Press ...The Indiana Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case Sept. 4 from Lake County that found the right-to-work law unconstitutional. Another Lake County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in July. Both decisions hinge on the "particular services" clause of the state Constitution, which states "no person's particular services shall be demanded without just compensation."...
Who's Getting a Raise? Minimum Wage Hikes Gain Steam in States, Cities NBC News ...“Because Congress hasn’t acted, states and cities are doing it instead; $10.10 is the new starting point...”
Michigan hourly minimum wage rises to $8.15 on Labor Day Oakland Press ...It’s scheduled to increase regularly over the next few years before topping out Jan. 1, 2018 at $9.25...
War on Workers
Private equity's giant collusion case is over, as Carlyle folds Fortune ...The plaintiffs had argued that Carlyle and its co-defendants had conspired to not bid against each other on eight large “take-private” buyouts that occurred prior to the financial crisis...
Skydiving event in memory of worker killed in propeller accident Journal-News ...Sarah Rhoads, 24, of Miamisburg, died after being critically injured when she accidentally walked into an operating airplane propeller this past June...
More Jobs That Pay Decent Wages: How To Fight Poverty In The United States IMF ...nearly 40 percent of American adults will spend at least one year in poverty by the time they reach 60. During 1968–2000, the risk was less than 20 percent. More devastatingly, 1 in 5 children currently live in poverty and, during their childhood, roughly 1 in 3 Americans will spend at least one year living below the poverty line...
The Unprecedented Failure to Regulate Citigroup Continues Wall Street on Parade ...Wall Street’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), charged Citigroup with cheating its customers out of fair prices on preferred stock trades — 22,000 times. Citigroup was fined a meager $1.85 million, ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution, allowed to neither deny or admit the charges, and sent on its merry way to loot the next unwary investor...
John Ketzenberger: Right to work and unions The Star Press ...The Indiana Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case Sept. 4 from Lake County that found the right-to-work law unconstitutional. Another Lake County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in July. Both decisions hinge on the "particular services" clause of the state Constitution, which states "no person's particular services shall be demanded without just compensation."...
Who's Getting a Raise? Minimum Wage Hikes Gain Steam in States, Cities NBC News ...“Because Congress hasn’t acted, states and cities are doing it instead; $10.10 is the new starting point...”
Michigan hourly minimum wage rises to $8.15 on Labor Day Oakland Press ...It’s scheduled to increase regularly over the next few years before topping out Jan. 1, 2018 at $9.25...
War on Workers
Private equity's giant collusion case is over, as Carlyle folds Fortune ...The plaintiffs had argued that Carlyle and its co-defendants had conspired to not bid against each other on eight large “take-private” buyouts that occurred prior to the financial crisis...
Skydiving event in memory of worker killed in propeller accident Journal-News ...Sarah Rhoads, 24, of Miamisburg, died after being critically injured when she accidentally walked into an operating airplane propeller this past June...
More Jobs That Pay Decent Wages: How To Fight Poverty In The United States IMF ...nearly 40 percent of American adults will spend at least one year in poverty by the time they reach 60. During 1968–2000, the risk was less than 20 percent. More devastatingly, 1 in 5 children currently live in poverty and, during their childhood, roughly 1 in 3 Americans will spend at least one year living below the poverty line...
The Unprecedented Failure to Regulate Citigroup Continues Wall Street on Parade ...Wall Street’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), charged Citigroup with cheating its customers out of fair prices on preferred stock trades — 22,000 times. Citigroup was fined a meager $1.85 million, ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution, allowed to neither deny or admit the charges, and sent on its merry way to loot the next unwary investor...
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.24.14
Teamster News
Teamsters, Taylor Farms clash The Packer ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which hopes to represent Taylor Farms employees at two Tracy, Calif., facilities, claims many were denied benefits as a result of prolonged stays in temporary worker status...
With help from Teamsters, LA Uber drivers try to organize Southern California Public Radio ...Organizers are expecting up to 500 Uber drivers – supported by Teamsters Local 986 – to hold a demonstration Tuesday morning in front of the Uber offices in Santa Monica...
D.C. Taxicab Drivers Organize Against Ridesharing Services WAMU ...local labor groups are focusing on pressuring the D.C. Council to help cabbies stave off competition from the unregulated, on-demand “ridesharing” services UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar. The Teamsters Local 922 is planning to hold a cab driver rally Wednesday at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington to call on District legislators to level a playing field where the city’s regulated taxi fleet currently feels at a disadvantage to the innovative newcomers...
Arbitration Ruling Renews CN, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Agreement Progressive Railroading ...CN on Friday announced it will immediately begin to implement an arbitrator's decision that set the terms and conditions of a new three-year agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY)...
Trade
Thanks to Wikileaks, public can debate alarming new trade deal Trade Reform ...The draft agreement Wikileaks released on June 19 is fresh, written in May. It is a model of secret law, blatant in its disregard for transparency, democratic process and history. Its opening page says the terms are to remain secret for five years after negotiations formally end or the proposed new rules take effect. Talks to refine that agreement were to resume Monday in Geneva...
LIVEBLOG: Minnesota State Reps Demand Washington Act On Unfair Steel Trade manufacture this ...Jason Metsa, Tom Anzelc and several others followed Governor Mark Dayton’s powerful demand for federal action on unfair trade in steel ... especially tubular products being produced in South Korea and dumped at below-market prices in the U.S. market...
State Battles
We have a proven formula for success’ (opinion) FortWayne.com ...I recently vetoed an ordinance passed by City Council that would end collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
Labor Law Repeal To Hit Assembly, Again, On Tuesday Anchorage Daily News ...The latest effort to defeat a controversial city labor law will hit the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night as members consider a complicated array of options from repealing the measure outright to replacing it with a watered-down version to leaving it as a referendum question on the state ballot in November's election...
The Supreme Court Ruled In Favor Of An Alabama Whistle Blower. What Does That Mean For Others Who Expose Corruption? Birmingham News ...Edward Lane was the director of a statewide program for Alabama's at-risk youth when he saw State Rep. Sue Schmitz was drawing pay, but doing no work, for the program. Lane fired Schmitz in 2006 and later testified at her public corruption trials regarding the "no-show" job....
Mayors Put Focus On How To Raise Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers In Cities New York Times ...Here at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, which convened over the weekend, the subject of income inequality seemed to be on almost everyone’s lips, and mayors wondered aloud how best to use their powers to help the lowest-paid workers...
War On Workers
Starbucks baristudents should beware the green mermaid bearing gifts (opinion) Guardian ...For the first two years of their education, Starbucks students will qualify for a small scholarship from ASU, but the balance of their tuition payments will have to come from loans and students' own financial resources (aka their take-home pay as baristas)...
The CEO Aristocracy: Big Bucks For The Big Boss Washington Post ...Any CEO of a major company is virtually guaranteed to become a multimillionaire. In the Equilar survey, the median holding of company stock was $83 million. CEO compensation has vastly outstripped average wage gains...
Miscellaneous
Justices Uphold Emission Limits on Big Industry New York Times ...In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching...
Teamsters, Taylor Farms clash The Packer ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which hopes to represent Taylor Farms employees at two Tracy, Calif., facilities, claims many were denied benefits as a result of prolonged stays in temporary worker status...
With help from Teamsters, LA Uber drivers try to organize Southern California Public Radio ...Organizers are expecting up to 500 Uber drivers – supported by Teamsters Local 986 – to hold a demonstration Tuesday morning in front of the Uber offices in Santa Monica...
D.C. Taxicab Drivers Organize Against Ridesharing Services WAMU ...local labor groups are focusing on pressuring the D.C. Council to help cabbies stave off competition from the unregulated, on-demand “ridesharing” services UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar. The Teamsters Local 922 is planning to hold a cab driver rally Wednesday at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington to call on District legislators to level a playing field where the city’s regulated taxi fleet currently feels at a disadvantage to the innovative newcomers...
Arbitration Ruling Renews CN, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Agreement Progressive Railroading ...CN on Friday announced it will immediately begin to implement an arbitrator's decision that set the terms and conditions of a new three-year agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY)...
Trade
Thanks to Wikileaks, public can debate alarming new trade deal Trade Reform ...The draft agreement Wikileaks released on June 19 is fresh, written in May. It is a model of secret law, blatant in its disregard for transparency, democratic process and history. Its opening page says the terms are to remain secret for five years after negotiations formally end or the proposed new rules take effect. Talks to refine that agreement were to resume Monday in Geneva...
LIVEBLOG: Minnesota State Reps Demand Washington Act On Unfair Steel Trade manufacture this ...Jason Metsa, Tom Anzelc and several others followed Governor Mark Dayton’s powerful demand for federal action on unfair trade in steel ... especially tubular products being produced in South Korea and dumped at below-market prices in the U.S. market...
State Battles
We have a proven formula for success’ (opinion) FortWayne.com ...I recently vetoed an ordinance passed by City Council that would end collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
Labor Law Repeal To Hit Assembly, Again, On Tuesday Anchorage Daily News ...The latest effort to defeat a controversial city labor law will hit the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night as members consider a complicated array of options from repealing the measure outright to replacing it with a watered-down version to leaving it as a referendum question on the state ballot in November's election...
The Supreme Court Ruled In Favor Of An Alabama Whistle Blower. What Does That Mean For Others Who Expose Corruption? Birmingham News ...Edward Lane was the director of a statewide program for Alabama's at-risk youth when he saw State Rep. Sue Schmitz was drawing pay, but doing no work, for the program. Lane fired Schmitz in 2006 and later testified at her public corruption trials regarding the "no-show" job....
Mayors Put Focus On How To Raise Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers In Cities New York Times ...Here at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, which convened over the weekend, the subject of income inequality seemed to be on almost everyone’s lips, and mayors wondered aloud how best to use their powers to help the lowest-paid workers...
War On Workers
Starbucks baristudents should beware the green mermaid bearing gifts (opinion) Guardian ...For the first two years of their education, Starbucks students will qualify for a small scholarship from ASU, but the balance of their tuition payments will have to come from loans and students' own financial resources (aka their take-home pay as baristas)...
The CEO Aristocracy: Big Bucks For The Big Boss Washington Post ...Any CEO of a major company is virtually guaranteed to become a multimillionaire. In the Equilar survey, the median holding of company stock was $83 million. CEO compensation has vastly outstripped average wage gains...
Miscellaneous
Justices Uphold Emission Limits on Big Industry New York Times ...In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching...
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.22.14
Trade
TISA Angry Bear ...As with leaks from the secret Tran-Pacific Partnership negotiations, this leak shows that the largest corporations are working to bypass recent efforts by governments to rein them in by pushing through “trade” agreements that override their ability to write their own laws and regulations...
Trade Treaties and the Coming Rule of the Global Corporatocracy naked capitalism ...The intentions of those negotiating the multiple trade treaties are now crystal clear: to place complete power and control over our economies in the hands of the largest global corporations, many of which bear the lion’s share of responsibility for the economic and environmental mess we’re already in...
State Battles
John Doe special prosecutor says he voted for Scott Walker in recall Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...This disclosure is intended to counter claims by conservative groups that they are being targeted by prosecutors because they backed the first-term Republican governor...
Same song, second verse for Right to Work issue Springfield News-Leader ...Lawmakers will move early on so-called Right to Work next year, Rep. Kevin Austin said this past week. Sound familiar? It's the same message lawmakers shared with the public last year...
A $15 minimum wage in Indy? Unlikely Indianapolis Star ...t's a trend cities in Indiana won't be joining anytime soon. State law doesn't allow it...
War on Workers
LIUNA: Fix Our Bridges, Roads; Fund the Highway Bill AFL-CIO Now ...With the Highway Trust Fund running out of money, thanks to congressional inaction, crucial highway and bridge repair projects could be shut down starting this summer...
Social Security's continuing assault on its own customer service Los Angeles Times ...The downside of drastic cutbacks in the agency's staffing levels, number of field offices and general commitment to service is detailed in a report issued by the Senate Committee on Aging in conjunction with a hearing on the subject Wednesday...
Amazon Living Wage campaigners place dummy book on site as protest Guardian ...Campaigners who have been calling on Amazon to "end poverty pay" for months have brought their battle directly to the internet retailer's front doorstep with the launch of a "book" on Amazon's own website slamming the way it treats its workers...
German economics minister “austerity policies have failed” billy blog ...what is apparent in modern day Europe is the increasing breakdown of social stability and an emerging law of the jungle driven by unemployment, poverty and the inevitable social exclusion...
Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street Wall Street on Parade ...Citigroup may be operating one of Wall Street’s largest collections of dark pools, trading stocks 24/7 around the globe in de facto unregulated stock exchanges which it operates under a dizzying array of different names...
TISA Angry Bear ...As with leaks from the secret Tran-Pacific Partnership negotiations, this leak shows that the largest corporations are working to bypass recent efforts by governments to rein them in by pushing through “trade” agreements that override their ability to write their own laws and regulations...
Trade Treaties and the Coming Rule of the Global Corporatocracy naked capitalism ...The intentions of those negotiating the multiple trade treaties are now crystal clear: to place complete power and control over our economies in the hands of the largest global corporations, many of which bear the lion’s share of responsibility for the economic and environmental mess we’re already in...
State Battles
John Doe special prosecutor says he voted for Scott Walker in recall Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...This disclosure is intended to counter claims by conservative groups that they are being targeted by prosecutors because they backed the first-term Republican governor...
Same song, second verse for Right to Work issue Springfield News-Leader ...Lawmakers will move early on so-called Right to Work next year, Rep. Kevin Austin said this past week. Sound familiar? It's the same message lawmakers shared with the public last year...
A $15 minimum wage in Indy? Unlikely Indianapolis Star ...t's a trend cities in Indiana won't be joining anytime soon. State law doesn't allow it...
War on Workers
LIUNA: Fix Our Bridges, Roads; Fund the Highway Bill AFL-CIO Now ...With the Highway Trust Fund running out of money, thanks to congressional inaction, crucial highway and bridge repair projects could be shut down starting this summer...
Social Security's continuing assault on its own customer service Los Angeles Times ...The downside of drastic cutbacks in the agency's staffing levels, number of field offices and general commitment to service is detailed in a report issued by the Senate Committee on Aging in conjunction with a hearing on the subject Wednesday...
Amazon Living Wage campaigners place dummy book on site as protest Guardian ...Campaigners who have been calling on Amazon to "end poverty pay" for months have brought their battle directly to the internet retailer's front doorstep with the launch of a "book" on Amazon's own website slamming the way it treats its workers...
German economics minister “austerity policies have failed” billy blog ...what is apparent in modern day Europe is the increasing breakdown of social stability and an emerging law of the jungle driven by unemployment, poverty and the inevitable social exclusion...
Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street Wall Street on Parade ...Citigroup may be operating one of Wall Street’s largest collections of dark pools, trading stocks 24/7 around the globe in de facto unregulated stock exchanges which it operates under a dizzying array of different names...
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.21.14
Teamster News
Safety Report On Tracy Morgan Crash Raises New Questions MSN ..."The NTSB's preliminary findings in this case clearly show that truck drivers are pushing beyond the limits of the current hours of service rules," Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said....
Commissioners Approve Employee Communications Consultants In Wake Of Union Petition The Sentinel ...The Cumberland County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday afternoon to approve a contract addendum allowing labor council Campbell, Durrant, Beatty, Palombo & Miller to engage consultants for communications with employees...
Labor Relations Board Judge To Hear Claims Against Rancho Dominguez Trucking Firm Long Beach Press-Telegram ...A National Labor Relations Board judge in August will hear allegations by Los Angeles and Long Beach port truck drivers and their supporters that a Rancho Dominguez trucking firm committed more than 50 labor law violations...
Temporary Workers, Paid Sick Days, Back Wages Lead California Labor Priorities Sacramento Bee ...Paid sick days. Tougher penalties for employers who withhold back wages. More liability for corporations that use subcontractors. The priority list of organized labor, a formidable force in the Legislature, begins with these three items...
Teamsters: NLRB Complaint Issued Against Green Fleet Systems teamster.org ...In a tremendous victory for Los Angeles/Long Beach port truck drivers who have gone on three “Unfair Labor Practice” strikes in the last eleven months, Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a consolidated complaint alleging a myriad of over 50 egregious labor law violations against one of the larger drayage companies, Green Fleet Systems (GFS) (the company also has operations at the Port of Savannah, Georgia)...
Kraft Foods workers in Avon ratify new contract Democrat & Chronicle ...After nearly 13 months of negotiations, members of Teamsters Local 118 have ratified a new four-year contract with Kraft Foods...
Vermont Bus Maintenance Workers Ratify Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County bus system have ratified a new contract with Teamsters Local 597...
Trade
Pocan calls for end to Brunei negotiations over new anti-LGBT laws Gay Politics ...U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, along with over 100 other House members, called on Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to stop any further negotiations with the government of on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah revokes a newly adopted penal code that is in gross violation of human rights...
Dear Defense Contractor CEOs: Why Is the Pentagon Buying Weapons With Chinese Parts Instead of US Parts? truthout ...At least 80 of our nation's primary weapon systems wouldn't work at all without Chinese-sourced rare earth materials...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment Flatlines Econbrowser ...State-level employment figures released this morning by the BLS indicate indicate that as US (and regional peer Minnesota) employment powers along, Wisconsin lags. As does Kansas. Hence, the negative correlation between the ALEC-Laffer economic outlook index and actual economic activity persists...
4 Key Takeaways About Scott Walker's Alleged "Criminal Scheme" Mother Jones ...Prosecutors are probing whether Walker and two of his aides illegally coordinated with outside groups—including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity—to fend off a wave of recall elections in 2011 and 2012...
It's Official. Big Food Sues Vermont truthout ...Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit in federal the U.S. District Court, State of Vermont, to overturn Vermont’s recently passed GMO labeling law...
Audit finds 'intentional misuse' of funds by Elevate Ventures Indianapolis Business Journal ...The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury Department says Elevate Ventures “intentionally misused” almost $500,000 in taxpayer funds when the state contractor invested in a company run by its board chairman...
SEC Charges Private Equity Firm With Pay-to-Play Violations Involving Political Campaign Contributions in Pennsylvania SEC ...The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Philadelphia-area private equity firm with violating “pay-to-play” rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate in 2011 to the governor of Pennsylvania and a candidate for mayor of Philadelphia...
Keurig and Coca-Cola Brew Jobs in Georgia manufacture this ...The two beverage companies will create 550 new jobs in Douglasville, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and invest $337 million into the facility in the next five years. The new manufacturing center will produce pods for the company’s new Keurig Cold Platform...
War On Workers
Supreme Court Gives Public Workers 1st Amendment Shield Los Angeles Times ...The Supreme Court shielded public employees from being fired or disciplined if they testify in court against their superiors, ruling Thursday that the 1st Amendment protects citizens who are called upon to tell the truth...
Local cops can track your phone, and the government doesn’t want you to know how Columbia Journalism Review ...Police departments around the country increasingly are using sophisticated technology to surveil American citizens by monitoring cellphone data, in many cases carefully hiding those activities from the public and the press...
Miscellaneous
The Dead-End Of Financialization: Innovation Is Slumping For A Reason David Stockman's Contra Corner ...monetary policy is not neutral as proclaimed, but rather ... there are innumerable and immeasurable changes due to persistent monetary intrusions that depress economic potential ... The fullest expression of that is the complete infiltration of “easy money” as an expectation – it erodes everything from what we expect from stocks (doubling your money every year is normal!) to actual work ethic (“put your money to work”) to resource allocation (day traders and house flippers, not to mention Wall Street mathematicians and lawyers, rather than industrial entrepreneurs)...
Safety Report On Tracy Morgan Crash Raises New Questions MSN ..."The NTSB's preliminary findings in this case clearly show that truck drivers are pushing beyond the limits of the current hours of service rules," Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said....
Commissioners Approve Employee Communications Consultants In Wake Of Union Petition The Sentinel ...The Cumberland County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday afternoon to approve a contract addendum allowing labor council Campbell, Durrant, Beatty, Palombo & Miller to engage consultants for communications with employees...
Labor Relations Board Judge To Hear Claims Against Rancho Dominguez Trucking Firm Long Beach Press-Telegram ...A National Labor Relations Board judge in August will hear allegations by Los Angeles and Long Beach port truck drivers and their supporters that a Rancho Dominguez trucking firm committed more than 50 labor law violations...
Temporary Workers, Paid Sick Days, Back Wages Lead California Labor Priorities Sacramento Bee ...Paid sick days. Tougher penalties for employers who withhold back wages. More liability for corporations that use subcontractors. The priority list of organized labor, a formidable force in the Legislature, begins with these three items...
Teamsters: NLRB Complaint Issued Against Green Fleet Systems teamster.org ...In a tremendous victory for Los Angeles/Long Beach port truck drivers who have gone on three “Unfair Labor Practice” strikes in the last eleven months, Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a consolidated complaint alleging a myriad of over 50 egregious labor law violations against one of the larger drayage companies, Green Fleet Systems (GFS) (the company also has operations at the Port of Savannah, Georgia)...
Kraft Foods workers in Avon ratify new contract Democrat & Chronicle ...After nearly 13 months of negotiations, members of Teamsters Local 118 have ratified a new four-year contract with Kraft Foods...
Vermont Bus Maintenance Workers Ratify Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County bus system have ratified a new contract with Teamsters Local 597...
Trade
Pocan calls for end to Brunei negotiations over new anti-LGBT laws Gay Politics ...U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, along with over 100 other House members, called on Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to stop any further negotiations with the government of on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah revokes a newly adopted penal code that is in gross violation of human rights...
Dear Defense Contractor CEOs: Why Is the Pentagon Buying Weapons With Chinese Parts Instead of US Parts? truthout ...At least 80 of our nation's primary weapon systems wouldn't work at all without Chinese-sourced rare earth materials...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment Flatlines Econbrowser ...State-level employment figures released this morning by the BLS indicate indicate that as US (and regional peer Minnesota) employment powers along, Wisconsin lags. As does Kansas. Hence, the negative correlation between the ALEC-Laffer economic outlook index and actual economic activity persists...
4 Key Takeaways About Scott Walker's Alleged "Criminal Scheme" Mother Jones ...Prosecutors are probing whether Walker and two of his aides illegally coordinated with outside groups—including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity—to fend off a wave of recall elections in 2011 and 2012...
It's Official. Big Food Sues Vermont truthout ...Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit in federal the U.S. District Court, State of Vermont, to overturn Vermont’s recently passed GMO labeling law...
Audit finds 'intentional misuse' of funds by Elevate Ventures Indianapolis Business Journal ...The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury Department says Elevate Ventures “intentionally misused” almost $500,000 in taxpayer funds when the state contractor invested in a company run by its board chairman...
SEC Charges Private Equity Firm With Pay-to-Play Violations Involving Political Campaign Contributions in Pennsylvania SEC ...The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Philadelphia-area private equity firm with violating “pay-to-play” rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate in 2011 to the governor of Pennsylvania and a candidate for mayor of Philadelphia...
Keurig and Coca-Cola Brew Jobs in Georgia manufacture this ...The two beverage companies will create 550 new jobs in Douglasville, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and invest $337 million into the facility in the next five years. The new manufacturing center will produce pods for the company’s new Keurig Cold Platform...
War On Workers
Supreme Court Gives Public Workers 1st Amendment Shield Los Angeles Times ...The Supreme Court shielded public employees from being fired or disciplined if they testify in court against their superiors, ruling Thursday that the 1st Amendment protects citizens who are called upon to tell the truth...
Local cops can track your phone, and the government doesn’t want you to know how Columbia Journalism Review ...Police departments around the country increasingly are using sophisticated technology to surveil American citizens by monitoring cellphone data, in many cases carefully hiding those activities from the public and the press...
Miscellaneous
The Dead-End Of Financialization: Innovation Is Slumping For A Reason David Stockman's Contra Corner ...monetary policy is not neutral as proclaimed, but rather ... there are innumerable and immeasurable changes due to persistent monetary intrusions that depress economic potential ... The fullest expression of that is the complete infiltration of “easy money” as an expectation – it erodes everything from what we expect from stocks (doubling your money every year is normal!) to actual work ethic (“put your money to work”) to resource allocation (day traders and house flippers, not to mention Wall Street mathematicians and lawyers, rather than industrial entrepreneurs)...
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.12.14
Teamster News
Teamsters: THUD Amendments Will Weaken Highway Safety Standards TheTrucker.com ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa Monday denounced two potential floor amendments to the Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY ’15 Appropriations bill that the Teamsters say will weaken highway safety standards by putting fatigued drivers on the road in bigger, heavier trucks...
Teamsters come out against hours changes, ATA still supportive Overdrive ...The Teamsters Union has voiced its opposition to recent Congressional action to roll back the 2013 changes to federal hours-of-service restart provisions, but American Trucking Associations head Bill Graves is holding strong on the group’s support for suspending the changes...
Official Statement of the Teamsters Union on the Worldwide Taxi Drivers' Protests Against Uber teamster.org ..."I express our solidarity with today’s protests by taxi drivers in city after city across Europe. The drivers are calling for fairness and asking that if the private sedan services are allowed to operate that they do so on a level playing field. Uber is currently operating without having to comply with the same rules and regulations that taxi drivers do..."
Teamsters Local 142 Wants To Bid On Chesterton Police Officers' Health Care Chesterton Tribune ...The officers of the Chesterton Police Department and their brothers in Teamsters Local 142 filled the meeting room of the town hall on Monday night, to hear a union attorney accuse the Town Council of fiduciary irresponsibility. At issue: the Teamsters is interested in bidding its healthcare plan to CPD officers...
Teamsters Against HoS Restart Charges Truck News ...The accident involving a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. driver and comedian Tracy Morgan’s entourage has yet another industry organization weighing in about potential hours of service changes. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent an open letter to the US House of Representatives saying any steps to “delay, revise or replace the current hours of service 34-hour restart provision” or allow increases in truck size and weight, “especially they size of double trailers from the current 28-ft. to 33-ft.” should be opposed...
Coral Gables Employees To Get One Time Bonus Miami Herald ...The Coral Gables City Commission approved a two-year contract with the city’s general employees union Tuesday that includes a one-time bonus and lower pension contributions from employees during the first year...
Trade
Comment: Shrouded in secrecy, opposition to TPP mounts SBS ...They want to reassure us that we don’t need to worry about spiralling drug costs or curtailed internet freedom, but they’re not willing to let us see the text of the deal to back up their claims...
Livestock Groups Show Concern for TPP During D.C. Hearing Farm Futures ...Japan's TPP requests to exempt certain "sensitive" products – including pork and beef, dairy, sugar, wheat and barley, and rice and starch – from tariff elimination has big impacts on future trade deals and the ag industry's ability to benefit from the agreement, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said during a hearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee...
Anger by US farmers threatens ambitious Pacific trade pact Reuters ...U.S. farmers are in an uproar over signs Japan will maintain some barriers to agricultural exports under a Pacific trade pact, which threatens to unravel a deal that is central to U.S. efforts to retain economic and security influence in the region...
State Battles
Repeal the pension tax on Michigan seniors Detroit News ...a retired couple born after 1952 with more than $50,000 in income, including $48,000 in pension benefits, paid $1,930 more in taxes than they would have if pensions weren’t taxed...
New Jersey's soaring subsidy program doing little to boost struggling economy The Guardian ...Study says New Jersey badly trailing other states' economic recovery despite corporate credits rising sevenfold under Christie...
Council Votes Again To End Collective Bargaining Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ...City Council members again voted along party lines Tuesday to end collective bargaining for all city workers except police and firefighters...
San Francisco Voters Will Weigh In On A $15 Minimum Wage Think Progress ...A question on San Francisco’s November ballot will ask city residents whether they want to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by July 2018...
Why that ruling against teacher tenure won't help your schoolchildren (opinion) Los Angeles Times ... one should be "suspicious of wealthy and powerful individuals and groups whose advocacy for children leads to 'reforms' that won’t cost a cent, but will weaken labor."...
Numbers put lie to state growth strategy (opinion) Journal Gazette ...Light taxation and regulation haven’t raised living standard (in Indiana)...
War On Workers
Walmart Associate: 'Give The Workers Dignity And Respect We Deserve' WBUR ...Charmaine Givens-Thomas ... is a sales associate who has worked at Walmart for eight years. She makes $23,000 a year and has trouble paying rent and putting food on the table. She says Walmart should pay its employees a living wage...
Cantor’s Loss a Triumph for Anti-Corporate Right-Wing Populism naked capitalism ...conservative economics professor David Brat succeeded in channeling a strain of right-wing populism to target Cantor, and plausibly so, as a corporate stooge and progenitor of crony capitalism...
Clauses That Hurt Workers New York Times ...Many businesses have long required that executives and other important employees agree not to work for a competitor for a year or two after they leave. Now some employers are unfairly imposing that requirement on all kinds of workers, including lower-wage employees like camp counselors, interns and yoga instructors...
Here's Why Amazon Is More Brutal Than Walmart Time ...The recent dustup between Amazon and publisher Hachette reminds us that retail is a brutal business — tough on employees, really hard on suppliers. Walmart, the largest physical retailer, and Amazon, the largest retailer online, illustrate the pain produced in the effort to make consumers’ prices as low as possible...
Miscellaneous
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Win Lawsuit Over Arrests Washington Post ...New York City has agreed to pay nearly $600,000 to settle allegations that police wrongfully arrested a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters, marking what their lawyers Tuesday called the largest settlement to date in a single Occupy-related civil rights case...
Teamsters: THUD Amendments Will Weaken Highway Safety Standards TheTrucker.com ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa Monday denounced two potential floor amendments to the Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY ’15 Appropriations bill that the Teamsters say will weaken highway safety standards by putting fatigued drivers on the road in bigger, heavier trucks...
Teamsters come out against hours changes, ATA still supportive Overdrive ...The Teamsters Union has voiced its opposition to recent Congressional action to roll back the 2013 changes to federal hours-of-service restart provisions, but American Trucking Associations head Bill Graves is holding strong on the group’s support for suspending the changes...
Official Statement of the Teamsters Union on the Worldwide Taxi Drivers' Protests Against Uber teamster.org ..."I express our solidarity with today’s protests by taxi drivers in city after city across Europe. The drivers are calling for fairness and asking that if the private sedan services are allowed to operate that they do so on a level playing field. Uber is currently operating without having to comply with the same rules and regulations that taxi drivers do..."
Teamsters Local 142 Wants To Bid On Chesterton Police Officers' Health Care Chesterton Tribune ...The officers of the Chesterton Police Department and their brothers in Teamsters Local 142 filled the meeting room of the town hall on Monday night, to hear a union attorney accuse the Town Council of fiduciary irresponsibility. At issue: the Teamsters is interested in bidding its healthcare plan to CPD officers...
Teamsters Against HoS Restart Charges Truck News ...The accident involving a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. driver and comedian Tracy Morgan’s entourage has yet another industry organization weighing in about potential hours of service changes. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent an open letter to the US House of Representatives saying any steps to “delay, revise or replace the current hours of service 34-hour restart provision” or allow increases in truck size and weight, “especially they size of double trailers from the current 28-ft. to 33-ft.” should be opposed...
Coral Gables Employees To Get One Time Bonus Miami Herald ...The Coral Gables City Commission approved a two-year contract with the city’s general employees union Tuesday that includes a one-time bonus and lower pension contributions from employees during the first year...
Trade
Comment: Shrouded in secrecy, opposition to TPP mounts SBS ...They want to reassure us that we don’t need to worry about spiralling drug costs or curtailed internet freedom, but they’re not willing to let us see the text of the deal to back up their claims...
Livestock Groups Show Concern for TPP During D.C. Hearing Farm Futures ...Japan's TPP requests to exempt certain "sensitive" products – including pork and beef, dairy, sugar, wheat and barley, and rice and starch – from tariff elimination has big impacts on future trade deals and the ag industry's ability to benefit from the agreement, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said during a hearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee...
Anger by US farmers threatens ambitious Pacific trade pact Reuters ...U.S. farmers are in an uproar over signs Japan will maintain some barriers to agricultural exports under a Pacific trade pact, which threatens to unravel a deal that is central to U.S. efforts to retain economic and security influence in the region...
State Battles
Repeal the pension tax on Michigan seniors Detroit News ...a retired couple born after 1952 with more than $50,000 in income, including $48,000 in pension benefits, paid $1,930 more in taxes than they would have if pensions weren’t taxed...
New Jersey's soaring subsidy program doing little to boost struggling economy The Guardian ...Study says New Jersey badly trailing other states' economic recovery despite corporate credits rising sevenfold under Christie...
Council Votes Again To End Collective Bargaining Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ...City Council members again voted along party lines Tuesday to end collective bargaining for all city workers except police and firefighters...
San Francisco Voters Will Weigh In On A $15 Minimum Wage Think Progress ...A question on San Francisco’s November ballot will ask city residents whether they want to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by July 2018...
Why that ruling against teacher tenure won't help your schoolchildren (opinion) Los Angeles Times ... one should be "suspicious of wealthy and powerful individuals and groups whose advocacy for children leads to 'reforms' that won’t cost a cent, but will weaken labor."...
Numbers put lie to state growth strategy (opinion) Journal Gazette ...Light taxation and regulation haven’t raised living standard (in Indiana)...
War On Workers
Walmart Associate: 'Give The Workers Dignity And Respect We Deserve' WBUR ...Charmaine Givens-Thomas ... is a sales associate who has worked at Walmart for eight years. She makes $23,000 a year and has trouble paying rent and putting food on the table. She says Walmart should pay its employees a living wage...
Cantor’s Loss a Triumph for Anti-Corporate Right-Wing Populism naked capitalism ...conservative economics professor David Brat succeeded in channeling a strain of right-wing populism to target Cantor, and plausibly so, as a corporate stooge and progenitor of crony capitalism...
Clauses That Hurt Workers New York Times ...Many businesses have long required that executives and other important employees agree not to work for a competitor for a year or two after they leave. Now some employers are unfairly imposing that requirement on all kinds of workers, including lower-wage employees like camp counselors, interns and yoga instructors...
Here's Why Amazon Is More Brutal Than Walmart Time ...The recent dustup between Amazon and publisher Hachette reminds us that retail is a brutal business — tough on employees, really hard on suppliers. Walmart, the largest physical retailer, and Amazon, the largest retailer online, illustrate the pain produced in the effort to make consumers’ prices as low as possible...
Miscellaneous
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Win Lawsuit Over Arrests Washington Post ...New York City has agreed to pay nearly $600,000 to settle allegations that police wrongfully arrested a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters, marking what their lawyers Tuesday called the largest settlement to date in a single Occupy-related civil rights case...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Indiana store sells only American-made products
Here's a store we'd like to be able to patronize. It's a new store in Angola, Ind., that sells only American-made products. Their goal is to expand to 500 stores.
We learned about it from our friends at Labor 411. They tell us:
The American Store, formerly known as American Made Shopper, is on a mission to provide consumers a no-hassle way of finding and buying American products. Its founder, Jeff Face, says that upon return from military duty overseas, “I decided somebody had to stand up and provide leadership. I'm not talking about politics; I'm talking about practical businesses that care about the country. I cannot stand by and watch our country go down the drain.”Good luck to them.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.10.14
Teamster News
Workplace peril: Irresponsible companies put workers at risk (opinion) San Jose Mercury News ..."I told my manager that a work assignment was really hurting my foot. The next day he called me to the office and told me that he didn't care about my foot, and if I couldn't work where I was placed, there's the door. He told me, 'To me, you are nothing. You don't even exist to the company.' " To curb these abuses, the California Labor Federation and the Teamsters are working with Assemblyman Roger Hernández on legislation, AB 1897, to hold companies accountable for abuses by the labor contractors they hire...
Convention Center remains closed to Teamsters, Carpenters Philly.com ...neither the Carpenters Local 8, viewed by management as the center's most difficult and disruptive union, nor the Teamsters Local 107 will be permitted to work at the center after their contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday...
Teamsters, beverage distributors reach contract agreements Saturday Gazette-Mail ...All three contracts include significant wage increases and protect members’ health and pension benefits, said Ken Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175, based in South Charleston, and general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Council Amends All-Star Game 'Clean Zone' Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...The City Council voted Friday to modify and clarify the intent of a previous resolution that created a "clean zone" during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Trade Pact On The Slow Track Financial Post ...The Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations continue to move along, with Japan now intensively involved and the government of South Korea close to jumping in. With the collapse of the broader multilateral efforts in the World Trade Organization...
State Battles
State Supreme Court To Hear Right To Work Case In September Indiana Public Media ...State Attorney General Greg Zoeller last year appealed Lake County Judge John Sedia’s ruling that the law violates a provision of the Indiana Constitution that says no person’s services shall be demanded without just compensation...
John Doe investigation halted again after finding that appeal was 'frivolous' Wisconsin State Journal ...The John Doe investigation into possible illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and several conservative groups has once again been halted after a federal judge on Thursday dismissed as “frivolous” an interim appeal by the prosecutors in the case...
North Dakota Is The Deadliest State To Work In Mother Jones ...Fracking has done some incredible things for North Dakota. It has the fastest growing economy and lowest unemployment in the nation, and is second only to Texas in churning out oil. But with any gold rush, the boom comes with a human cost involved...
ALEC Struggles In Kansas City Center for Media and Democracy ...Amidst increasing public scrutiny of ALEC, the group has tried to sneak back into the shadows. ALEC's efforts to evade open records laws and to boot reporters from meetings have been well-documented, but at this meeting ALEC even tried to hide the name of its corporate meeting sponsors...
EXCLUSIVE: Christie officials gave millions in public funds to VC firm, despite “pay to play” rules Pando Daily ...Gov. Chris Christie’s administration awarded a public pension contract to a technology venture capital firm shortly after a partner at that same firm made a $10,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican State Committee...
War On Workers
London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber BBC News ...The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters...
No Sign of Labor Shortages in Construction: There are Seven Unemployed Construction Workers for Every Job Opening Economic Policy Institute ...the real hourly wages of residential building workers are still 4.2% below 2009, a loss significantly deeper than that of the overall private sector workforce, whose wages are 0.9 percent below 2009...
Koch Brothers' Americans For Prosperity Plans $125 Million Spending Spree Politico ...The Koch brothers' main political arm plans to spend more than $125 million on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group...
Death on the Job Report AFL-CIO ...Workplaces are much safer today than when the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was passed in 1970, which promised workers in this country the right to a safe job. The job fatality rate has been cut by 81 percent; more than 492,000 workers lives have been saved...
Miscellaneous
Amazon expands Sunday delivery to 15 more cities USA Today ...Amazon.com's Sunday delivery program is now available in 15 additional cities, beyond the New York and Los Angeles metro areas where the program originally launched last November, the online retailer announced Thursday. Amazon Prime members who order an eligible item as late as Friday can receive the package — delivered by the U.S. Postal Service — as soon as Sunday, under the free two-day shipping benefit that comes with the $99 annual Prime membership...
FAA: U.S. Airliner Nearly Collided With Drone in March Wall Street Journal ...A U.S. airliner nearly collided with a drone over Florida earlier this year, a federal official said, a near miss that highlights risks posed by the proliferation of unmanned aircraft in U.S. skies...
Workplace peril: Irresponsible companies put workers at risk (opinion) San Jose Mercury News ..."I told my manager that a work assignment was really hurting my foot. The next day he called me to the office and told me that he didn't care about my foot, and if I couldn't work where I was placed, there's the door. He told me, 'To me, you are nothing. You don't even exist to the company.' " To curb these abuses, the California Labor Federation and the Teamsters are working with Assemblyman Roger Hernández on legislation, AB 1897, to hold companies accountable for abuses by the labor contractors they hire...
Convention Center remains closed to Teamsters, Carpenters Philly.com ...neither the Carpenters Local 8, viewed by management as the center's most difficult and disruptive union, nor the Teamsters Local 107 will be permitted to work at the center after their contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday...
Teamsters, beverage distributors reach contract agreements Saturday Gazette-Mail ...All three contracts include significant wage increases and protect members’ health and pension benefits, said Ken Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175, based in South Charleston, and general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Council Amends All-Star Game 'Clean Zone' Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...The City Council voted Friday to modify and clarify the intent of a previous resolution that created a "clean zone" during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Trade Pact On The Slow Track Financial Post ...The Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations continue to move along, with Japan now intensively involved and the government of South Korea close to jumping in. With the collapse of the broader multilateral efforts in the World Trade Organization...
State Battles
State Supreme Court To Hear Right To Work Case In September Indiana Public Media ...State Attorney General Greg Zoeller last year appealed Lake County Judge John Sedia’s ruling that the law violates a provision of the Indiana Constitution that says no person’s services shall be demanded without just compensation...
John Doe investigation halted again after finding that appeal was 'frivolous' Wisconsin State Journal ...The John Doe investigation into possible illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and several conservative groups has once again been halted after a federal judge on Thursday dismissed as “frivolous” an interim appeal by the prosecutors in the case...
North Dakota Is The Deadliest State To Work In Mother Jones ...Fracking has done some incredible things for North Dakota. It has the fastest growing economy and lowest unemployment in the nation, and is second only to Texas in churning out oil. But with any gold rush, the boom comes with a human cost involved...
ALEC Struggles In Kansas City Center for Media and Democracy ...Amidst increasing public scrutiny of ALEC, the group has tried to sneak back into the shadows. ALEC's efforts to evade open records laws and to boot reporters from meetings have been well-documented, but at this meeting ALEC even tried to hide the name of its corporate meeting sponsors...
EXCLUSIVE: Christie officials gave millions in public funds to VC firm, despite “pay to play” rules Pando Daily ...Gov. Chris Christie’s administration awarded a public pension contract to a technology venture capital firm shortly after a partner at that same firm made a $10,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican State Committee...
War On Workers
London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber BBC News ...The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters...
No Sign of Labor Shortages in Construction: There are Seven Unemployed Construction Workers for Every Job Opening Economic Policy Institute ...the real hourly wages of residential building workers are still 4.2% below 2009, a loss significantly deeper than that of the overall private sector workforce, whose wages are 0.9 percent below 2009...
Koch Brothers' Americans For Prosperity Plans $125 Million Spending Spree Politico ...The Koch brothers' main political arm plans to spend more than $125 million on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group...
Death on the Job Report AFL-CIO ...Workplaces are much safer today than when the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was passed in 1970, which promised workers in this country the right to a safe job. The job fatality rate has been cut by 81 percent; more than 492,000 workers lives have been saved...
Miscellaneous
Amazon expands Sunday delivery to 15 more cities USA Today ...Amazon.com's Sunday delivery program is now available in 15 additional cities, beyond the New York and Los Angeles metro areas where the program originally launched last November, the online retailer announced Thursday. Amazon Prime members who order an eligible item as late as Friday can receive the package — delivered by the U.S. Postal Service — as soon as Sunday, under the free two-day shipping benefit that comes with the $99 annual Prime membership...
FAA: U.S. Airliner Nearly Collided With Drone in March Wall Street Journal ...A U.S. airliner nearly collided with a drone over Florida earlier this year, a federal official said, a near miss that highlights risks posed by the proliferation of unmanned aircraft in U.S. skies...
Friday, February 21, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.21.14
Teamster News
Massachusetts Highway Workers Unanimously Ratify Contract teamster.org ...Workers with the Newbury Highway Department in Newbury, Mass., have voted unanimously to ratify a strong contract, securing wage increases and job protections. The highway workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, Mass., joined the union in December and quickly negotiated a solid agreement...
Baltimore City School Bus Workers Win $1.25 Million Wage Settlement teamster.org ...Baltimore school bus drivers and attendants have reached a $1.25 million wage settlement with their employer, Durham School Services, the transportation contractor for Baltimore City Public Schools...
Pleasanton-based Safeway in discussions to sell company San Jose Mercury News ...In a move poised to rattle the supermarket industry, one of the East Bay's largest employers, Safeway, announced Wednesday that it is in talks to sell the company...
Film tax credit bill goes live Sacramento Business Journal ...Democratic Assemblymembers Raul Bocanegra and Mike Gatto released a film tax credit bill Wednesday that supporters say will protect jobs by keeping film crews in California....
Why privatizing toll collection is a horrible idea teamsternation ...If the New Jersey Turnpike Commission privatizes toll collection, workers who have already taken enormous cuts to pay and benefits will suffer...
Eight lies ‘advocates’ told about carriage horses New York Post ...the carriage industry is well-regulated and safe. NYCLASS attacks us not with facts and well-reasoned arguments, but with emotional manipulation and outright lies...
Judge strikes down Nebraska law that allowed Keystone XL pipeline Dallas Morning News ...A Nebraska judge on Wednesday struck down a law that allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed through the state, a victory for opponents who have tried to block the project that would carry oil from Canada to Texas refineries...
The War on Workers
GOP’s Social Security disaster: Conservatives just lost their chance to cut benefits Salon ...The president dropping Chained CPI from his budget is a reprieve for the left -- and a message to the right...
Federal Government Soon to Know Everywhere You've Driven American Prospect ...There are more license-plate cameras installed all the time. Now the government wants to put all the data together in one database...
Flu Deaths Rise Among Young and Middle-Aged U.S. Adults Bloomberg ...While influenza traditionally affects children and the elderly hardest, adults under age 65 accounted for 61 percent of hospitalizations so far this season, an increase from 35 percent last year, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report...
New Report Exposes America's Highest Paid Government Workers truthout ...America’s highest paid "government" workers are not your local teachers, nurses, or sanitation workers. Rather, they are corporate executives who sign lucrative contracts to take over public services and then pay themselves and other executives eye-popping salaries...
Victoria's anti-protest laws pass lower house by one vote The Guardian ...Controversial new laws giving police unprecedented powers to disperse protests have passed Victoria’s lower house...
New Report: Port Trucking Companies Steal More Than $1 Billion in Wages From Drivers In These Times ...The port brings in close to $16 billion per year, but the drivers only see a tiny bit of that money. This is in large part because they're “misclassified” as independent contractors...
State Battles
Concerned Missourians Deliver More than 6,850 Letters Calling on Speaker To Drop ALEC's 'Right-To-Work' Legislation Attacks Progress Missouri ...“We need to be building an economy that works for everyone, not political attacks and favors to special interest donors...”
Employers could pay less in lawsuits over unpaid wages Indianapolis Star ...Long-sought changes limiting employers’ liability when being sued by workers for unpaid wages may come to pass under a House bill backed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The bill also would set up a framework to allow employers to take money out of wages of employees — if they agree — to repay loans for work-related equipment and job training...
The Top Five Things You Need to Know about the John Doe Emails Center for Media and Democracy ... in 2010 while Walker was running for governor, he corresponded consistently with key campaign and county staff from a private account in the middle of the work day and apparently on the secret Wi-Fi system set up by top aide Tim Russell...
Scott Walker Ordered Doctor Fired Because She Was Once A Thong Model Huffington Post ... In April 2010, Scott Walker and his staff realized they had a potential problem on their hands that would require them to quietly fire a woman who appeared to be completely competent at her job. The issue was that she had what they perceived to be a "checkered" past: She used to be a thong model...
Chris Christie's Mansion Fund Collected Millions From Political Favor Seekers Huffington Post ...A review of IRS records and Drumthwacket donor lists, however, suggest that prospective donors saw the mansion as something more than just an altruistic investment. Contributions to Drumthwacket often coincided with the donors' attempts to win tax breaks, political appointments or other support from Christie and his appointees. In many cases, the donors, like the Strangfelds, got what they wanted...
SC guv says she wears heels to kick unions teamsternation ...South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley would rather let the people of her state go without jobs than let them get union jobs...
Trade
“Free Trade” Pacts Were Always About Weakening Nation-States to Promote Rule by Multinationals naked capitalism ...the idea behind getting rid of these barriers wasn’t about free trade, it was about reorganizing the world so that corporations could manage resources for “the benefit of mankind”...
Miscellaneous
Madoff said JPMorgan executives knew of his fraud: lawsuit Reuters ..."JPMorgan was uniquely positioned for 20 years to see Madoff's crimes and put a stop to them," the lawsuit said. "But faced with the prospect of shutting down Madoff's account and losing lucrative profits," it added, "JPMorgan - at its highest level - chose to turn a blind eye."...
Massachusetts Highway Workers Unanimously Ratify Contract teamster.org ...Workers with the Newbury Highway Department in Newbury, Mass., have voted unanimously to ratify a strong contract, securing wage increases and job protections. The highway workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, Mass., joined the union in December and quickly negotiated a solid agreement...
Baltimore City School Bus Workers Win $1.25 Million Wage Settlement teamster.org ...Baltimore school bus drivers and attendants have reached a $1.25 million wage settlement with their employer, Durham School Services, the transportation contractor for Baltimore City Public Schools...
Pleasanton-based Safeway in discussions to sell company San Jose Mercury News ...In a move poised to rattle the supermarket industry, one of the East Bay's largest employers, Safeway, announced Wednesday that it is in talks to sell the company...
Film tax credit bill goes live Sacramento Business Journal ...Democratic Assemblymembers Raul Bocanegra and Mike Gatto released a film tax credit bill Wednesday that supporters say will protect jobs by keeping film crews in California....
Why privatizing toll collection is a horrible idea teamsternation ...If the New Jersey Turnpike Commission privatizes toll collection, workers who have already taken enormous cuts to pay and benefits will suffer...
Eight lies ‘advocates’ told about carriage horses New York Post ...the carriage industry is well-regulated and safe. NYCLASS attacks us not with facts and well-reasoned arguments, but with emotional manipulation and outright lies...
Judge strikes down Nebraska law that allowed Keystone XL pipeline Dallas Morning News ...A Nebraska judge on Wednesday struck down a law that allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed through the state, a victory for opponents who have tried to block the project that would carry oil from Canada to Texas refineries...
The War on Workers
GOP’s Social Security disaster: Conservatives just lost their chance to cut benefits Salon ...The president dropping Chained CPI from his budget is a reprieve for the left -- and a message to the right...
Federal Government Soon to Know Everywhere You've Driven American Prospect ...There are more license-plate cameras installed all the time. Now the government wants to put all the data together in one database...
Flu Deaths Rise Among Young and Middle-Aged U.S. Adults Bloomberg ...While influenza traditionally affects children and the elderly hardest, adults under age 65 accounted for 61 percent of hospitalizations so far this season, an increase from 35 percent last year, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report...
New Report Exposes America's Highest Paid Government Workers truthout ...America’s highest paid "government" workers are not your local teachers, nurses, or sanitation workers. Rather, they are corporate executives who sign lucrative contracts to take over public services and then pay themselves and other executives eye-popping salaries...
Victoria's anti-protest laws pass lower house by one vote The Guardian ...Controversial new laws giving police unprecedented powers to disperse protests have passed Victoria’s lower house...
New Report: Port Trucking Companies Steal More Than $1 Billion in Wages From Drivers In These Times ...The port brings in close to $16 billion per year, but the drivers only see a tiny bit of that money. This is in large part because they're “misclassified” as independent contractors...
State Battles
Concerned Missourians Deliver More than 6,850 Letters Calling on Speaker To Drop ALEC's 'Right-To-Work' Legislation Attacks Progress Missouri ...“We need to be building an economy that works for everyone, not political attacks and favors to special interest donors...”
Employers could pay less in lawsuits over unpaid wages Indianapolis Star ...Long-sought changes limiting employers’ liability when being sued by workers for unpaid wages may come to pass under a House bill backed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The bill also would set up a framework to allow employers to take money out of wages of employees — if they agree — to repay loans for work-related equipment and job training...
The Top Five Things You Need to Know about the John Doe Emails Center for Media and Democracy ... in 2010 while Walker was running for governor, he corresponded consistently with key campaign and county staff from a private account in the middle of the work day and apparently on the secret Wi-Fi system set up by top aide Tim Russell...
Scott Walker Ordered Doctor Fired Because She Was Once A Thong Model Huffington Post ... In April 2010, Scott Walker and his staff realized they had a potential problem on their hands that would require them to quietly fire a woman who appeared to be completely competent at her job. The issue was that she had what they perceived to be a "checkered" past: She used to be a thong model...
Chris Christie's Mansion Fund Collected Millions From Political Favor Seekers Huffington Post ...A review of IRS records and Drumthwacket donor lists, however, suggest that prospective donors saw the mansion as something more than just an altruistic investment. Contributions to Drumthwacket often coincided with the donors' attempts to win tax breaks, political appointments or other support from Christie and his appointees. In many cases, the donors, like the Strangfelds, got what they wanted...
SC guv says she wears heels to kick unions teamsternation ...South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley would rather let the people of her state go without jobs than let them get union jobs...
Trade
“Free Trade” Pacts Were Always About Weakening Nation-States to Promote Rule by Multinationals naked capitalism ...the idea behind getting rid of these barriers wasn’t about free trade, it was about reorganizing the world so that corporations could manage resources for “the benefit of mankind”...
Miscellaneous
Madoff said JPMorgan executives knew of his fraud: lawsuit Reuters ..."JPMorgan was uniquely positioned for 20 years to see Madoff's crimes and put a stop to them," the lawsuit said. "But faced with the prospect of shutting down Madoff's account and losing lucrative profits," it added, "JPMorgan - at its highest level - chose to turn a blind eye."...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.15.14
Teamster News
Republic Airways Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Company teamster.org ...On Friday, the Teamsters Airline Division announced that it reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Republic Airways...
YRCW Successfully Refinances Debt teamster.org ...YRCW Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW) announced on February 13th that it has closed on the financing of a new $700 million term loan and a $450 million asset-based loan facility, which was the final piece to an improved capital structure...
Teamsters Local 357: Pilots say Quality of Life/Pay, NOT Qualifications Causing Pilot Shortage Teamsters Local 357 ...Pilots who fly for one of the nation's largest regional airline companies say it's not a lack of qualified pilots, but rather a lack of pay and respect that's grounding airplanes and could cause a ripple effect in the nation's air transportation system...
Union braves deep freeze; negotiations remain frigid Sauk Valley Media ...Members of Teamsters Local 722 have picketed outside the Bay Valley Foods plant in Dixon, Illinois in subzero temperatures, day and night for more than a week. The company has called in non-union workers to run the plant…
Hatch wins endorsements from major labor unions Associated Press ...Major Iowa labor unions, including four Teamsters locals, announced Thursday that they are endorsing Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch for governor...
State Battles
Volkswagen employees say 'no' to United Auto Workers in Tennessee CNN ...Union organizers in the South suffered a setback Friday when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers...
Gov. John Kasich has his right-to-work answer -- and he's sticking to it: Ohio Politics Roundup Cleveland Plain Dealer ...Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder used to say right-to-work legislation – seen by organized labor as a tool to weaken unions by banning dues-paying requirements – was not on his agenda. Then, in late 2012, Snyder reversed course, setting the stage for a new state law. In Ohio, fellow Republican Gov. John Kasich offers the same phrasing...
Indiana lawmakers to state job agency: "Tell the truth" WTHR.com ...Some Indiana lawmakers say new legislation is needed to prevent the state from hiding and distorting its real job numbers. "We just need to tell the truth," said House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City). "Based on what I've seen, we've got a problem..."
Bills aim to restrict union organizing, picketing Associated Press ...Mississippi senators want to restrict some union organizing and picketing practices, as well as local laws that might benefit workers...
Michigan Supreme Court takes on key component of Right to Work law Beverly Hills Courier ...As labor groups around the country continue their fight against Right to Work, one of the nation’s most notorious Right to Work battlegrounds is making headlines again now that Michigan’s Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial legislation...
Retirement privatization could cost workers millions WISHTV.com ...Battle lines are being drawn over a plan to privatize part of Indiana’s public retirement system. Supporters say failing to take action could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. But, critics say it would also leave thousands of public employees facing a new set of retirement risks...
Trade
Joe Biden Admits Vast Obama Trade Deals Are On Hold Huffington Post ... The White House's trade plans are on hold, at least for now, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday, in welcome news to many Democrats who oppose the sweeping deals...
No Fast Track to TPP: Fix NAFTA First (Opinion) Huffington Post ...The big corporations and the Obama administration are trying to push through a giant new trade treaty that gives corporations even more power, and which will send even more jobs, factories, industries and money out of the country. This is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and they are pushing something called "fast track" in Congress to help push it through...
War on Workers
Obama Lashes Out At Republicans Over Volkswagen-UAW Organizing Fight Reuters ...President Barack Obama on Friday waded into Washington's war of words over a union organizing election in Tennessee when he accused Republicans of trying to block labor's efforts at an auto plant in that state, according to a Democratic aide who heard the remarks...
Tipped workers push for a raise after more than 20 years at $2.13 DailyKos ...The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. I repeat, $2.13. It's been frozen for well over 20 years, since 1991, but the minimum wage increase Democrats are pushing would increase it over a period of several years...
Companies Squeeze 401K Plans From Facebook to JPMorgan Bloomberg News ...Employers are squeezing their workers’ retirement savings, holding back on both the amount and the timing of 401(k) matching funds and dragging out vesting schedules. Taken together, these measures are making it more difficult to save for old age...
New Report: U.S. Employers Have Hijacked State Dept. Cultural Exchange Program, Used It as Cheap Labor Source AlterNet ...The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented widespread abuse of J-1 Visa program...
Court Okays Labor Department Rule: Guestworkers Must Earn Prevailing Wages In These Times ...The appellate court's unanimous decision in favor of the Labor Department is a significant victory for guest workers, helping protect them from employer exploitation and labor abuses...
High-end fashion mogul to the 99 percent: You’d be rich in China, so don’t complain about inequality Salon ...The CEO and co-founder of a luxury fashion company says America's become a nation of whiners and that being poor in the world's richest country isn't so bad...
Hundreds Protest Tax Breaks for Twitter, Tech Companies Truthout ...Hundreds of protesters picketed Twitter’s offices because of an exceptionally generous tax break it receives from San Francisco. Meanwhile, municipal workers are being pressured to make concessions about their health care contributions because the city is running at a deficit...
Republic Airways Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Company teamster.org ...On Friday, the Teamsters Airline Division announced that it reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Republic Airways...
YRCW Successfully Refinances Debt teamster.org ...YRCW Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW) announced on February 13th that it has closed on the financing of a new $700 million term loan and a $450 million asset-based loan facility, which was the final piece to an improved capital structure...
Teamsters Local 357: Pilots say Quality of Life/Pay, NOT Qualifications Causing Pilot Shortage Teamsters Local 357 ...Pilots who fly for one of the nation's largest regional airline companies say it's not a lack of qualified pilots, but rather a lack of pay and respect that's grounding airplanes and could cause a ripple effect in the nation's air transportation system...
Union braves deep freeze; negotiations remain frigid Sauk Valley Media ...Members of Teamsters Local 722 have picketed outside the Bay Valley Foods plant in Dixon, Illinois in subzero temperatures, day and night for more than a week. The company has called in non-union workers to run the plant…
Hatch wins endorsements from major labor unions Associated Press ...Major Iowa labor unions, including four Teamsters locals, announced Thursday that they are endorsing Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch for governor...
State Battles
Volkswagen employees say 'no' to United Auto Workers in Tennessee CNN ...Union organizers in the South suffered a setback Friday when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers...
Gov. John Kasich has his right-to-work answer -- and he's sticking to it: Ohio Politics Roundup Cleveland Plain Dealer ...Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder used to say right-to-work legislation – seen by organized labor as a tool to weaken unions by banning dues-paying requirements – was not on his agenda. Then, in late 2012, Snyder reversed course, setting the stage for a new state law. In Ohio, fellow Republican Gov. John Kasich offers the same phrasing...
Indiana lawmakers to state job agency: "Tell the truth" WTHR.com ...Some Indiana lawmakers say new legislation is needed to prevent the state from hiding and distorting its real job numbers. "We just need to tell the truth," said House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City). "Based on what I've seen, we've got a problem..."
Bills aim to restrict union organizing, picketing Associated Press ...Mississippi senators want to restrict some union organizing and picketing practices, as well as local laws that might benefit workers...
Michigan Supreme Court takes on key component of Right to Work law Beverly Hills Courier ...As labor groups around the country continue their fight against Right to Work, one of the nation’s most notorious Right to Work battlegrounds is making headlines again now that Michigan’s Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial legislation...
Retirement privatization could cost workers millions WISHTV.com ...Battle lines are being drawn over a plan to privatize part of Indiana’s public retirement system. Supporters say failing to take action could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. But, critics say it would also leave thousands of public employees facing a new set of retirement risks...
Trade
Joe Biden Admits Vast Obama Trade Deals Are On Hold Huffington Post ... The White House's trade plans are on hold, at least for now, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday, in welcome news to many Democrats who oppose the sweeping deals...
No Fast Track to TPP: Fix NAFTA First (Opinion) Huffington Post ...The big corporations and the Obama administration are trying to push through a giant new trade treaty that gives corporations even more power, and which will send even more jobs, factories, industries and money out of the country. This is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and they are pushing something called "fast track" in Congress to help push it through...
War on Workers
Obama Lashes Out At Republicans Over Volkswagen-UAW Organizing Fight Reuters ...President Barack Obama on Friday waded into Washington's war of words over a union organizing election in Tennessee when he accused Republicans of trying to block labor's efforts at an auto plant in that state, according to a Democratic aide who heard the remarks...
Tipped workers push for a raise after more than 20 years at $2.13 DailyKos ...The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. I repeat, $2.13. It's been frozen for well over 20 years, since 1991, but the minimum wage increase Democrats are pushing would increase it over a period of several years...
Companies Squeeze 401K Plans From Facebook to JPMorgan Bloomberg News ...Employers are squeezing their workers’ retirement savings, holding back on both the amount and the timing of 401(k) matching funds and dragging out vesting schedules. Taken together, these measures are making it more difficult to save for old age...
New Report: U.S. Employers Have Hijacked State Dept. Cultural Exchange Program, Used It as Cheap Labor Source AlterNet ...The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented widespread abuse of J-1 Visa program...
Court Okays Labor Department Rule: Guestworkers Must Earn Prevailing Wages In These Times ...The appellate court's unanimous decision in favor of the Labor Department is a significant victory for guest workers, helping protect them from employer exploitation and labor abuses...
High-end fashion mogul to the 99 percent: You’d be rich in China, so don’t complain about inequality Salon ...The CEO and co-founder of a luxury fashion company says America's become a nation of whiners and that being poor in the world's richest country isn't so bad...
Hundreds Protest Tax Breaks for Twitter, Tech Companies Truthout ...Hundreds of protesters picketed Twitter’s offices because of an exceptionally generous tax break it receives from San Francisco. Meanwhile, municipal workers are being pressured to make concessions about their health care contributions because the city is running at a deficit...
Miscellaneous
‘Exile The Homeless’ City Now Requires Permits And Large Fees To Feed The Homeless ThinkProgress ...Last August, Columbia, South Carolina approved a new plan to give its homeless population an impossible choice: leave downtown or be arrested. The city is now taking even more steps to criminalize homelessness...
Severe winter weather estimated to cost U.S. economy nearly $50 billion Los Angeles Times ...The severe weather that has hit much of the country this winter has cost the economy nearly $50 billion in lost productivity and 76,000 jobs...
Connecticut Verizon Workers Among Those Affected In Call Center Shake-Up CBS WTIC 1080 ...About 3,000 Verizon Wireless workers will have to transfer to different offices or find new jobs as part of a shake-up that will close five of the company’s customer call centers...
‘Exile The Homeless’ City Now Requires Permits And Large Fees To Feed The Homeless ThinkProgress ...Last August, Columbia, South Carolina approved a new plan to give its homeless population an impossible choice: leave downtown or be arrested. The city is now taking even more steps to criminalize homelessness...
Severe winter weather estimated to cost U.S. economy nearly $50 billion Los Angeles Times ...The severe weather that has hit much of the country this winter has cost the economy nearly $50 billion in lost productivity and 76,000 jobs...
Connecticut Verizon Workers Among Those Affected In Call Center Shake-Up CBS WTIC 1080 ...About 3,000 Verizon Wireless workers will have to transfer to different offices or find new jobs as part of a shake-up that will close five of the company’s customer call centers...
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.13.14
Teamsters
Washington Twp. cops might go union Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant 12 WBOY News ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts teamster.org ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill The Hill ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder teamster.org ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track New York Daily News ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote Media Matters ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote Reuters ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market Center for Economic and Policy Research ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill Salon ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract Daily Camera ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances WHBL ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually teamster.org ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike ThinkProgress ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream ThinkProgress ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts Indianapolis Star ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’ ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions firedoglake ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8% Housing Wire ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end Washington Post ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea Washington Post ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...
Washington Twp. cops might go union Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant 12 WBOY News ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts teamster.org ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill The Hill ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder teamster.org ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track New York Daily News ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote Media Matters ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote Reuters ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market Center for Economic and Policy Research ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill Salon ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract Daily Camera ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances WHBL ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually teamster.org ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike ThinkProgress ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream ThinkProgress ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts Indianapolis Star ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’ ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions firedoglake ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8% Housing Wire ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end Washington Post ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea Washington Post ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...
Monday, February 10, 2014
Indiana lawmakers want to bring back the company store
Indiana lawmakers want to take another step toward turning the state into a feudal serfdom with a bill that would restore the company store.
HB 1126 will be heard in committee Wednesday morning. The AFL-CIO tells us the bill would:
- allow employers to charge employees up to $2,500 a year for “purchase” or “use” of uniforms or equipment necessary to do their jobs.
- allow employers to force their employees to reimburse them for educational or employee skills training required by the employer, even if it is incidental to the work performed and not transferable to other jobs.
- eliminate long-established penalties on employers who fail to pay their workers what they’ve earned – opening the door to more cases of wage theft in Indiana.
Somehow we don't think debt slavery is going to improve Indiana's economy.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.04.14
Mayor De Blasio’s Horse Policy Is a Pile of Manure (opinion) Daily Beast ...Bill de Blasio’s first priority as New York City’s leader is to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. Are you kidding?...
US economy losing 'up to a $1bn a week' after jobless benefits cut The Guardian ...The US economy is losing up to a billion dollars a week because of the “fiscally irresponsible” decision to end long-term unemployment benefits, a Harvard economist said on Friday...
Worrisome Spike in Student Loan Write-Offs American Banker ...Between January and August of last year, lenders wrote off $13.6 billion in student loan debt, a 46 percent increase from the same period of 2012 and the highest amount for this period in any of the last eight years, according to the data from Equifax (See chart 2)...
Beanie Baby Billionaire Seeks to Avoid Jail for Tax Crime Bloomberg ...H. Ty Warner, the billionaire creator of Beanie Baby plush toys, asked a judge to give him probation, not prison, for evading taxes on secret Swiss accounts that held as much as $107 million...
Is the NSA Spying on Congress? Sen. Bernie Sanders ...U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today asked the National Security Agency director whether the agency has monitored the phone calls, emails and Internet traffic of members of Congress and other elected officials...
Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Revealed Eugene Weekly ...The TPP talks about a trade deal will govern 40 percent of U.S. imports and exports as well as affect copyrights, pharmaceuticals and more. They are being conducted in secret, and only a few portions of the agreement and memos about it have been leaked...
The secret trade deal that threatens Maine’s frail economy Portland Phoenix ...Dozens of shoe factories once employed 30,000 workers in Maine, making it the top shoe-producing state. What’s left of that workforce — several hundred New Balance employees — could soon be gone too, thanks to a massive free trade agreement that’s expected to eliminate a series of tariffs on imported footwear. And jobs may not be all the state has to lose...
Idaho to take over privately-run state prison Associated Press ...Idaho's governor says the corrections department will take over operation of the largest privately-run prison in the state after more than a decade of mismanagement and other problems at the facility. Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America has contracted with the state to run the prison since it was built in 1997...
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin GOP Senator, Fights For A Seven-Day Workweek Huffington Post ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is attempting to roll back one of the state's progressive labor laws, arguing that workers should be allowed to work without a day off if they so choose...
Video shows businesses lobbying Rebecca Kleefisch for more tax breaks in closed-door meeting Wisconsin State Journal ...A recently released video of the Dec. 9 session at Beloit College shows Kleefisch and state Revenue Department Secretary Rick Chandler extolling state efforts to reduce taxes since Republicans took over state government in 2011, and saying they wanted private-sector ideas for another round of cuts...
Pot sales exceed $1 million on first day 9News.com ...Pot shops did record sales compared to the "medical marijuana days" on Wednesday when recreational marijuana opened. Pot shop owners across Colorado believe they collectively made more than $1 million statewide...
Fun with Numbers Sheila Kennedy ...the folks who opposed Right to Work were right when they characterized the measure as “Right to Work for Less.”...
US economy losing 'up to a $1bn a week' after jobless benefits cut The Guardian ...The US economy is losing up to a billion dollars a week because of the “fiscally irresponsible” decision to end long-term unemployment benefits, a Harvard economist said on Friday...
Worrisome Spike in Student Loan Write-Offs American Banker ...Between January and August of last year, lenders wrote off $13.6 billion in student loan debt, a 46 percent increase from the same period of 2012 and the highest amount for this period in any of the last eight years, according to the data from Equifax (See chart 2)...
Beanie Baby Billionaire Seeks to Avoid Jail for Tax Crime Bloomberg ...H. Ty Warner, the billionaire creator of Beanie Baby plush toys, asked a judge to give him probation, not prison, for evading taxes on secret Swiss accounts that held as much as $107 million...
Is the NSA Spying on Congress? Sen. Bernie Sanders ...U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today asked the National Security Agency director whether the agency has monitored the phone calls, emails and Internet traffic of members of Congress and other elected officials...
Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Revealed Eugene Weekly ...The TPP talks about a trade deal will govern 40 percent of U.S. imports and exports as well as affect copyrights, pharmaceuticals and more. They are being conducted in secret, and only a few portions of the agreement and memos about it have been leaked...
The secret trade deal that threatens Maine’s frail economy Portland Phoenix ...Dozens of shoe factories once employed 30,000 workers in Maine, making it the top shoe-producing state. What’s left of that workforce — several hundred New Balance employees — could soon be gone too, thanks to a massive free trade agreement that’s expected to eliminate a series of tariffs on imported footwear. And jobs may not be all the state has to lose...
Idaho to take over privately-run state prison Associated Press ...Idaho's governor says the corrections department will take over operation of the largest privately-run prison in the state after more than a decade of mismanagement and other problems at the facility. Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America has contracted with the state to run the prison since it was built in 1997...
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin GOP Senator, Fights For A Seven-Day Workweek Huffington Post ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is attempting to roll back one of the state's progressive labor laws, arguing that workers should be allowed to work without a day off if they so choose...
Video shows businesses lobbying Rebecca Kleefisch for more tax breaks in closed-door meeting Wisconsin State Journal ...A recently released video of the Dec. 9 session at Beloit College shows Kleefisch and state Revenue Department Secretary Rick Chandler extolling state efforts to reduce taxes since Republicans took over state government in 2011, and saying they wanted private-sector ideas for another round of cuts...
Pot sales exceed $1 million on first day 9News.com ...Pot shops did record sales compared to the "medical marijuana days" on Wednesday when recreational marijuana opened. Pot shop owners across Colorado believe they collectively made more than $1 million statewide...
Fun with Numbers Sheila Kennedy ...the folks who opposed Right to Work were right when they characterized the measure as “Right to Work for Less.”...
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