Teamsters take a stand for fair pay, organizing workers

Local 439 members in Stockton, Calif. leaflet at Fed Ex Freight.

The Teamsters joined with thousands of truck drivers, valet attendants and low-wage workers across the country today in a day of action to raise awareness about the sorry state of wages and benefits for millions of everyday Americans on the job.

FedEx Freight employees, port truck drivers and fast food workers held protests from coast-to-coast. They are joined by Teamster valet attendants at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, who are rallying tonight, and federal contract service workers in the nation’s capital on strike to call out employers who won’t pay fair wages and tamp down on workers organizing.

From Baltimore to Seattle, Teamsters stood outside more than 300 FedEx Freight terminals educating workers about the company's spending of $5.2 million over the past three years to cover the personal taxes of top executives as well hundreds of thousands of dollars to wage anti-worker campaigns. Meanwhile, workers there continue to have access to poor and expensive health benefits.

Teamster organizers said enough is enough:

FedEx Freight workers across the country have been building their power with the Teamsters' help for many months. Workers have committed to fighting for the long-haul to attain their true goal of a collective bargaining agreement with their employer. FedEx Freight workers want a voice and they want it in writing. Workers are overcoming their fear and the companies constant assault on organized labor. 

This workforce has built a very large core of committed individuals and continue to grow their pro-contract, pro-union, pro-Teamster ranks daily. They all understand that this is a marathon and not a sprint and are working diligently with their goal of memorializing their working lives in a written agreement with FedEx Freight!

Local 355 Teamsters gather in Baltimore.

Those efforts were repeated elsewhere. Port truck drivers and their Teamster supporters turned out in Los Angeles, New Jersey and Savannah, Ga. to raise awareness about wage theft and misclassification. These workers have been fighting to be recognized as full-time employees rather than contract workers.

The Teamsters have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in recent years with FedEx Freight workers and port truck drivers in an attempt to expand their voice in the workplace. That effort extends to valet attendants at several Las Vegas hotels as well as other disenfranchised workers across the nation.

The Labor Department’s own statistics prove why joining a union is important. The median union worker earns more than $200 a week more than a non-union one. That’s why the Teamsters have stressed the importance of labor membership in our recent “Let’s Get America Working!” campaign.

Teamster Strong, America Stronger!

Today's Teamster News 05.12.15

Teamsters
Teamsters, Employees, Allies Protest SLS Hotel's Violations Against Workers   Teamster.org  ...Today, Teamsters, employees and community allies protested SLS Casino and Hotel management’s ongoing violations of its workers’ right to form a union. Hundreds took part to support the valet parking attendants’ ongoing struggle for fairness. Management has committed several Unfair Labor Practices, including interrogation of workers that support the union. Management has fired three workers...
One Hundred Teamster Construction Drivers In Three Days: Fast Organizing Through PLA  Teamster.org  ...Organizing is tough, and it's not getting easier. But many Teamster locals are finding creative ways to bring in new members and strengthen the union. The use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) help level the playing field for construction workers through the protection of a union contract. International Vice President Rome Aloise has spent nearly a decade envisioning a day when the Teamsters organize thousands of new construction workers under the promise of PLAs nationwide. In Aloise's home state of California, it appears that day has already arrived...
Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship fund awards $195,000  Courier & Press   ...Officials with the Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship Fund recently announced the 109 sons and daughters of union members who are receiving between $500 and $3,200 in merit-based scholarships. The fund is giving a total of $195,000 in scholarships this year...
Valet union protests SLS Las Vegas casino-hotel on Strip  Associated Press  ...The union representing Las Vegas valet workers are protesting what they say is unfair treatment at the SLS Las Vegas hotel and casino on the Strip. Teamsters Local 986 said the group and supporters protested outside SLS Monday. The union wants to organize the casino-hotel's 50 valet employees...
Unions make strides among Silicon Valley workforce  Aljazeera America  ...Facebook shuttle drivers gained final approval for their union contract with Loop Transportation, the shuttle company that carries employees to and from Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters. The Loop drivers are now members of Teamsters Local 853 — which just the previous month had also successfully organized drivers for Apple, Yahoo, eBay, and Evernote, among others...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama's trade pact faces cliffhanger vote  Politico   ...The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s economic agenda faces a cliffhanger vote in the Senate on Tuesday, as Democratic leaders move to block his trade bill — leaving one powerful Oregon Democrat who may hold the key to the outcome squeezed between his party leaders and the White House...
Fight Over China Currency Policies Threatens Vote on Trade Bill  New York Times  ...A heated dispute over how to challenge China on currency policy has imperiled a trade bill that has become President Obama’s top legislative priority, uniting even the president’s top Democratic supporters against taking up the bill in the Senate...
Senate Democrats Are Revolting Against Obama's Trade Plan  National Journal   ... The majority of Democrats will not vote for any fast-track bill, also known as Trade Promotion Authority or TPA, no matter what. They discount the administration's claim that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major potential trade agreement affecting 40 percent of the world's economy, would be the "most progressive trade agreement in history" because of labor and environmental concerns...
AIPAC-backed amendments add to trade bill turmoil  Politico  ...The trade legislation being debated on Capitol Hill is already highly contentious. Amendments added about Israel are raising the rancor even more. The trade bill amendments aim to discourage foreign governments — in particular European ones — from boycotting, divesting from or putting sanctions on commercial activity linked to Israel and “Israeli-controlled territories”...
Nike-backed group pushes Trans-Pacific Partnership in Oregon  Sunlight Foundation  ...While Obama tries to convince Congress and working Americans of the merits of a new free trade agreement, Nike, along with other Oregon exporters, is focusing some of its substantial financial firepower on touting the TPP in its home state...
Network Rail workers vote to strike over pay   BBC  ...Network Rail workers have voted in favour of a UK-wide strike in a row over pay, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has said.
Its members voted 4-1 for action after rejecting pay offers from Network Rail, which owns and maintains most of Britain's railway infrastructure...
Tories to bring in tough anti-strike laws  The Telegraph   ...The Conservatives will push ahead with plans to ban strikes unless 40 per cent of people vote in favour of industrial action in government's first Queen's Speech, the new business secretary has said. Sajid Javid said that the Tories will not "hide away from the changes we want to make" as the party prepares to introduce a raft of new anti-strike laws...
Who is writing the TPP?  (opinion) Boston Globe  ...The president argues that the TPP is about who will “write the rules” for 40 percent of the world’s economy — the United States or China. But who is writing the TPP? The text has been classified and the public isn’t permitted to see it...
TPP Is Not Yet 'The Most Progressive Trade Agreement in History'  (opinion) Huff Post   ...I have deep concern -- and some dismay -- when the president says that "we are just wrong," or we are "satisfied with the status quo," or worse, we are "making this stuff up" when we express concerns about the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations...

State & Living Wage Battles
Hundreds of union workers come to Missouri Capitol for ‘Right to Work’ debate  Missourinet  ...Hundreds of union workers showed up at the capitol Monday to oppose a so-called “Right to Work” bill that is expected to move quickly in this final week of the legislative session. Testimony was emotional for some, including for Terry Nelson with the Carpenters District Council in the St. Louis region. He said government is trying to turn their contractors into adversaries...
Right to Work in Missouri Moves to Senate Floor  CBS St. Louis  ...A Senate committee approved legislation moving Missouri closer to becoming a Right to Work state. In a hearing of the Senate Small Business Committee, senators heard heavy opposition to make Missouri a Right to Work state.
Sen. Mike Parson (R-Bolivar) is the chairman of the committee. Many of his calls for testimony in support of the bill went answered...
States Where Minimum Wages Are Supposed To Be Living Wages  Think Progress  ...Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that he is taking advantage of a state law to raise minimum wages without the involvement of the legislature. He’s not the only governor with that power; others could also follow suit...
Senators answer court question on voter ID law  Houston Chronicle  ...The Texas Senate, with scant attention during an early morning vote, gave its unanimous answer to a lingering question the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals posed about the state’s embattled voter ID law. The bill won approval, 31-0. ore than 600,000 Texans lack the proper identification to vote under the state’s relatively new voting laws, among the most stringent in the nation...
How The Conservative Obsession With Policing Poor People’s Shopping Carts Got Started  Think Progress  ...In 2015, the poor are still smart shoppers. The USDA published research in early May comparing the food consumption patterns of SNAP recipients to both wealthier people and low-income families not receiving SNAP. The findings undermine the common conservative notion that the poor splurge on luxuries and empty calories...

U.S. Labor
New York City Nurses May Vote to Strike This Month   In These Times   ...Thousands of nurses at 12 hospitals poured into the streets of New York City April 16 to protest staffing shortages they say put patients at risk. The informational pickets were the latest salvo in negotiations with the city’s largest private hospitals. Next the New York State Nurses Association entered a month of intense federal mediation with three hospital systems. Voting for strike authorization could begin as soon as mid-May...
BP Whiting Refinery workers vote to end strike   NWI Times  ...United Steelworkers Local 7-1 members voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract they say will make the BP Whiting Refinery a safer place to work and preserve bargaining rights the union has had for nearly 80 years. An estimated 92 percent of refinery workers and 100 percent of plant guards voted to ratify a new four-year agreement...
How Can You Get an Ethical Manicure? Support Worker Organizing  The Nation  ... Sarah Maslin Nir’s recent New York Times investigation reveals epidemic wage theft and abuse of workers across the roughly 2,000 under-regulated manicure shops dotting the city, where cheap mani-pedis are provided by Asian and Latina women workers who scrub and pamper fingers and toes amid noxious fumes. Following the Times’s extensive report, both state and city authorities are now weighing policies to tighten oversight...
Ricky Maclin, Leader of Historic 2008 Republic Windows and Doors Factory Occupation, Dies at 61  In These Times  ...Melvin “Ricky” Maurice Maclin, Vice President of United Electrical Workers Local 1110, leader of the historic six-day factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors in December 2008 and founding member of New Era Windows Cooperative, died on May 5. “This is a huge loss for me and for our movement,” said his good friend, Local 1110 President Armando Robles, who was also a leader in the Republic occupation...

Miscellaneous
The delicate flowers of Wall Street: Financial titans warn Hillary to be mindful of their feelings   Salon  ...The titans of the financial industry have faced zero criminal liability for nearly destroying the economy in 2008, they still enjoy unrivaled influence over the policy platforms of both major political parties, and no one except Bernie Sanders even considers making a run for the president without hitting up the hedge fund managers for donations...

Today's Teamster News 03.25.15

Teamsters
Ownership Fight At Heidelberg Distributing Could Affect Teamster Contracts  WCPO   ...Union workers are threatening a statewide strike at one of the largest beer and wine distributorships in the Midwest, citing stalled contract negotiations over better wages and health care...
State Education Association Replaces Leader Amid Turmoil  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...During the March 12 meeting, the Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board discussed holding a runoff election between ESEA and Teamsters Local 14 to decide who will represent district support staff at the bargaining table. That election could prove to be the downfall of ESEA, which has represented school district support staff for more than 40 years...
Labor Federation Re-Elects Top Officers To 3-Year Terms  Buffalo News   ...Richard Lipsitz Jr. of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will continue to serve as president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. His new term runs until March 2018; Lipsitz and the three other officers ran unopposed. The federation is an umbrella group that covers unions with about 125,000 dues-paying members, stretching as far east as Batavia and as far south as Jamestown...
ONTC And Union Reach Five-Year Deal  North Bay Nugget   ...This year the ONTC will be negotiating with the remaining four unions (Unifor, Teamsters-Rail, Teamsters-Motor Coach, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers System). Eight collective agreements remain to be negotiated...
Union Drops Objection To Sunday Growler Sales  KARE   ...Ed Reynoso of the Teamsters Joint Council 32 told a Senate committee on Monday that "at this point" the union won't oppose a bill legalizing those growler sales on Sunday. It's a shift from last year when Teamsters' concerns about those sales affecting labor contracts helped derail the proposal...
City Council Candidates Stockpile Endorsements  Philadelphia Tribune   ...Teamsters Joint Council 53 recently endorsed at–large candidate Isaiah Thomas. “I am proud to have the support from Teamsters Joint Council 53,” Thomas said. “I have received endorsements from many members of the labor community and am excited that the Teamsters Union joins this extensive list. As the candidate who will work for Philadelphia, I understand the importance of strong labor support...
Teamsters Local 25 Will Honor David O. Russell  Boston Globe   ...Teamsters Local 25 will honor writer-director David O. Russell at its annual Light Up the Night Gala for Autism on Saturday. Russell has worked closely with Local 25 while filming the Massachusetts movies “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” and “Joy,” which is now in production. He’ll be recognized for his work as an advocate for mental health issues...
Trade
Rep. Sander Levin, 83, may pose greatest obstacle to sweeping Asia trade pact  Los Angeles Times   ...If the president wants to push the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, through Congress this year, first he must win over Levin and other leading liberals, convincing them to ease their demands and give U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman a freer hand...
U.S. fast-track trade deal unlikely until next month: Senator Hatch  Reuters   ..."I will do my very best to come up with something between now and when we get back, but if he doesn't do it, that would be very unfortunate, but we are going to have to go ahead," Hatch said...
State Battles
ALEC, NFIB Push Prevailing Wage Repeal  Center for Media and Democracy   ...As unions and working people battle "right-to-work" legislation in several states, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and allies have opened another flank in their war on good jobs. Targeted this time are state prevailing wage laws, which require public construction projects to support local wage standards instead of undercutting them...
Changes to collective bargaining in Nevada?  MyNews4   ...A hot topic is set to go before a committee of lawmakers on Wednesday. It’s a bill that would change collective bargaining involving public employee unions...
Unions Win Round Over Rauner In Fee Lawsuit  Chicago Tribune   ...Unions sued this month to halt an executive order Rauner issued that stopped the "fair share" fees from being sent to them, asking a St. Clair County judge to free up the money while the legal process plays out. Rauner attempted to have the matter moved to a federal court, but U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle ruled that the suit deals with questions regarding Illinois law and should be debated in state court...
Colorado Lawmakers Begin Debate For A $12.50 Minimum Wage By 2020  Denver Post   ...A Colorado House committee passed two bills Monday to potentially raise the minimum wage. The first would allow urban and resort communities to raise the local minimum wages, and the other would let voters in 2016 decide on a plan that could hike the state minimum wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. Both passed on a 6-5 party-line vote with Democrats in support...
Supreme Court Lets Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Stand  Washington Post   ...The justices’ decision not to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the law was a victory for Gov. Scott Walker (R), who supported and signed the law, and perhaps for other states that have tightened voting procedures to require additional identification. More challenges to specific state laws are in the pipeline...
War on Workers
AP Investigation: Slavery taints global supply of seafood  Associated Press   ...Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood may come from slaves...
Scientists to Smithsonian: Cut ties with Koch brothers  Washington Post   ...Three dozen scientists sent an open letter to museums of natural history calling on them to cut ties with the Koch brothers and anyone else with connections to the fossil fuel industry...
Power from the People  International Monetary Fund   ...The decline in unionization in recent decades has fed the rise in incomes at the top...
Miscellaneous
RadioShack's Bankruptcy Could Give Your Customer Data to the Highest Bidder  Bloomberg   ...The phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and shopping habits of more than 100 million customers are part of RadioShack's bankruptcy auction...

Today's Teamster News 03.20.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies  KNTV   ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG  Sharon Herald   ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters  Kitsap Sun   ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job  CBC News   ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims  teamster.org   ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda  Financial Times   ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases  Intellectual Property Watch   ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court  WDJT   ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth  Wisconsin Public radio   ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law  Louisville Courier Journal   ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance  Cincinnati.com   ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25  News Journal   ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration  Bloomberg BNA   ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway.  Washington Post   ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion)  Washington Post   ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play  Wall Street Journal   ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...

Today's Teamster News 02.25.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Presidential Veto of Keystone Hurts Middle Class Americans  teamster.org   ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa expressed his disappointment in President Obama’s decision today to veto the Keystone Pipeline Act despite bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and Senate...
Teamsters Seen As Upping Effort To Be Clark County Schools Union  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...A three-member Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board unanimously agreed to change its 13-year-old policy that requires a supermajority vote for one union to oust another. That decision came in the wake of the Teamsters overwhelming victory in a vote to determine whether workers wanted the Teamsters or ESEA to represent them...
Teamsters Port Division Responds To Tentative Contract Agreement Between The PMA And ILWU  Long Beach Post   ...“The longshoreman have fought for more than 100 years for a seat at the economic table; it is now the truckers turn,” the statement continued. “The Teamsters will continue to support the drivers’ fight for a seat at the economic table until justice is served.”...
BLET Members Ratify New Contract With Long Island Rail Road  BLET   ...On February 22, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) by a 71 percent majority...
Trade
Lawmakers grapple with ‘fast track’ trade bill  Marketwatch   …Lawmakers from both parties are trying to strike a difficult balance as they wrangle over the final intricacies of a bill that would expedite consideration of trade deals...
Devastating Impacts Of “Secretly Negotiated” TTIP Trade-Deal Between EU And US, Obama Blocks Making Its Terms Public  Centre for Research on Globalization   ...Basically: U.S. President Barack Obama is demanding that European nations weaken their regulations, but has been encountering stiff resistance from some, which has dragged out negotiations...
Fighting Fast Track: Is It Really China Or Us? (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Those deals and others like them have led to the U.S. accumulating more than $10 trillion in trade deficits over the past 20 years, far more than the rest of the world combined. Those deals have emptied small and large cities from Trenton to St. Louis of millions of jobs that would have provided a decent income to urban America. Instead our cities are burned out and in the case of Detroit and others, bankrupt...
WTO Rules Against China In Steel Anti-Dumping Dispute  Tax News   ...The panel found that the Chinese measures did not fully respect the prescribed WTO methods to calculate dumping margins. It also said that China failed to demonstrate that its domestic industry had been adversely affected by imports of the product in question, and said that Chinese anti-dumping procedure came short of the WTO requirements in terms of due process and transparency...
State Battles
About 2,000 rally against right-to-work in Wisconsin  Associated Press   …About 2,000 construction workers, electricians, carpenters and other union members rallied at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Tuesday, pushing back against a fast-tracked right-to-work bill backed by Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker...
Wisconsin Republicans worry about protest redux as right-to-work debate begins  Washington Post   ...In 2011, large protests against bills undercutting the political power of public employee unions rocked the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, sparking recall elections that nearly toppled Gov. Scott Walker (R). Four years later, Republicans want to avoid a repeat as they consider another measure that would curb union power...
Right-to-work offers little for Wisconsin's economy  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Wisconsin may soon become the 25th right-to-work state. Republicans in the state Senate have the votes — and there is little Democrats can do to stop the train. It's left the station...
Scott Walker’s Economic Mess: How Worker Wages Were Gutted In Wisconsin  Salon.com   ...I was in Wisconsin for the labor uprising of 2011. Faced with the threat from newly elected Gov. Scott Walker of eviscerated collective bargaining protections, unions and their allies brought hundreds of thousands of workers into the streets in protest. They fought like their lives depended on it. Four years later, we now know that they did...
Right-To-Work Debate Begins In Wisconsin With Hearing  Denver Post   ...Opponents of a Republican push to turn Wisconsin into a right-to-work state began to converge on the Capitol on Tuesday for a rally and to testify against the fast-tracked measure...
Oldham considers 'right-to-work' ordinance  The Courier-Journal   ...Some Oldham officials are hoping a proposed 'right-to-work' ordinance — which would prohibit mandatory union involvement as a condition of employment — could be the solution to a business park that, a decade after its $20 million purchase, "hasn't had the success the people who started it had initially hoped for," said Judge-Executive David Voegele...
Liquor privatization bill clears Pennsylvania House panel  Associated Press   ...A proposal to sell off most of Pennsylvania's state-owned liquor system and its wholesale distribution network moved ahead with a vote in the Legislature on Monday, although its prospects to become law remain uncertain...
'Paycheck protection' union-dues issue returns to the spotlight in Pa. Senate  Penn Live   ...The Senate State Government Committee on Monday voted 6-5 along mostly partisan lines to approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban the collection of union membership dues and political contributions from paychecks of state government and school district employees...
Two different Missouri Senate proposals to require photo IDs for voting  St. Louis Public Radio   ...The battle by Republican lawmakers to restore photo identification requirements in Missouri has moved over to the Senate, where two rather different approaches are being considered...
Minimum Wage To Rise In Alaska To $8.75 An Hour  The Oregonian   ...Voters in November overwhelmingly approved raising the minimum wage from $7.75 per hour to $8.75 per hour, effective Jan. 1. Because the state constitution calls for ballot measures to take effect 90 days after election results are certified, the raise doesn't take effect until Tuesday...
War on Workers
California Metrolink Derailment Is Latest in Series of High-Profile Crashes  NBC News   ...A commuter train derailment outside Los Angeles that sent 28 people to the hospital and left a tractor-trailer in flames was the latest in a series of high-profile accidents on the nation's rails...
Recent “Bomb Trains” Expose Regulatory Failures  Oil Price   ...even though the CPC-1232 cars have demonstrated that they are inadequately safe, much of the crude hitting the nation’s railways are not even traveling to that standard. Railcar manufacturers do not have the capability to ramp up production of the CPC-1232s fast enough, with a backlog of at least 50,000 cars. Meanwhile, there are still around 171,000 DOT-111s still in operation...
Telecom workers ratify agreement to end strike in New England  Reuters   ... Union members ratified an agreement on Sunday that ends a four-month-long strike by some 1,800 workers at FairPoint Communications, a major land-line telecommunications provider in northern New England, union officials announced...
U.S. refinery strike affects one-fifth of national capacity  Reuters   ...The largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years entered its fourth week on Sunday as workers at 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of national production capacity were walking picket lines...
Big Banks Face Scrutiny Over Pricing Of Metals  Wall Street Journal   ...U.S. officials are investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets, even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries...

Today's Teamster News 02.14.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa  teamster.org   ...Each year in February, Teamsters take a moment to reflect upon and remember a leader who changed the course of history for working men and women in America. James R. Hoffa, born February 14, 1913, served as General President of the Teamsters Union from 1957 to 1971. In that time, he inspired thousands to stand up and let their voices be heard...
Nevada Board Gives Up Supermajority Rule For Switching Unions  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...The three-member Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board unanimously agreed to make the changes at a meeting Thursday after ruling on a recent vote by Clark County School District support staff to determine whether Teamsters Local 14 would supplant the Education Support Employees Association at the bargaining table...
Union: Heidelberg Dispute Is Trickling Down  Cincinnati Business Courier   ... the battle over ownership of one of the region's largest beer distributing companies is having an effect on employees, and many are working without a contract....
Return To Work: Golan's Workers Claim Win After Six-Month Strike  Chicago Tribune   ...More than six months after workers at Skokie's Golan's Moving & Storage went on strike to try to win their first union contract, they returned to their jobs this month, claiming victory after agreeing to a three-year pact with the company....
CP Rail Faces Two Strike Deadlines This Weekend  Toronto Star   ...The Teamsters represents 3,300 locomotive engineers and other train workers at CP Rail. The union says the company is either unwilling or unable to comply with agreements that require train crews to stop operating and obtain rest after 10 continuous hours of work...
What People Power Can Achieve: Take The LA Port Drivers  City Watch   ...With the support of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, drivers from dozens of companies last year joined in unity (with Teamsters Local 848) to demand changes from drayage firms.  They met “to fight for justice.”...
FTC Delays Vote On $3.5B Food Merger After Sysco Meetings  New York Post   ...The Federal Trade Commission has blinked. The regulator was close Wednesday night to voting to block a $3.5 billion food industry merger — but postponed the decision after an intense day of meetings with Sysco, The Post has learned...
Sean Corr Will Race In The Lucas Oil 200 At Daytona Saturday To Support NYC's Horse-And-Carriage Industry  New York Daily News   ...One of the top contenders in this year’s Daytona Speedweek is running on Big Apple horse-and carriage power. Sean Corr, an up-and-coming race car driver from upstate New York, decked out his race car with a mural featuring a Central Park horse-carriage driver to show support for the embattled industry...
Labor Council Awards Honor Local Union Activists  Syracuse Post Standard   ...Unsung Hero Award: John Pekoff, Teamsters 317. Pekoff has helped with behind-the-scenes tasks like securing money for buses for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, lining up food for events and offering up the local Teamster Hall for meetings, training and phone banks...
Trade
Democrat Says Obama Administration Dodging Request To Read Trade Deals Without Restrictions  Huffington Post   …A Democratic congressman has accused the Obama administration of dodging his request for "unimpeded" access to two controversial trade agreements -- reigniting a dispute over transparency as the president presses legislators for so-called "fast-track" authority, which would block members of Congress from offering amendments to either deal...
TPP free trade deal no closer to transparency  SBS   …Australia’s hand in what is potentially the world's largest free trade agreement remains hidden from the public...
State Battles
Right-to-work laws won't save Illinois  Chicago Tribune   … It's impossible to claim that RTW laws help state economies. RTW advocates such as Rauner simply haven't made their case. If these laws have any impact on a state's well-being, the evidence doesn't show it. Except for one thing: Invariably, wages are lower in RTW states…
Assembly Dems Propose Minimum Wage Boost To $10.10  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Among the bills pushed by state Dems is one that would index the Homestead Tax Credit for low-income families to the rate of inflation and another that would restore cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers. A third would enact a $10.10 minimum wage...
GOP Contender Walker Draws Wall Street Cash  Wall Street Journal   ...Wall Street is warming up to Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Several GOP fundraisers from the financial-services industry and other Manhattan business sectors are hosting donor events for Mr. Walker, a likely presidential candidate, when he visits New York next week...
War on Workers
West Coast Ports Will Take A Split 4-Day Weekend Off  Consumerist   …Today is a holiday according to the port workers’ contracts, and so is Monday. Instead of paying overtime for what shipping line representatives say is deliberately slowed-down work, they’re simply shutting everything down for those four days, as they did last weekend. The unions, meanwhile, claim that the owners are trying to force a lockout, and also making the backlog even worse as a negotiating tactic...
Experts: Unaffordable rents here to stay  Housing Wire   …Unaffordable rents are making it hard for people to save for down payments, and they aren’t likely to ease up for at least two years, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey…
Miscellaneous
Make It A Union-Made Valentine's Day  Union Plus   ...Did you know Necco Sweethearts, See's Candy, and some Hershey Kisses are just a few of the sweet treats made by your fellow union members?  Sweets for your Valentine can be even sweeter when they're union-made...

Today's Teamster News 02.06.15

Teamsters
Buoyed By Election Win, Teamsters Seek To Represent CCSD Support Workers  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...On Tuesday night, a runoff election that’s been pending for nearly a decade was held between the Education Support Employees Association and Teamsters Local 14 for the right to represent the Clark County School District’s support staff at the bargaining table. The Teamsters garnered 71 percent of the 5,190 votes cast in the runoff election, which has been delayed for years over legal wrangling...
More Tech Companies’ Shuttle Drivers To Vote on Joining Teamsters  Wall Street Journal   …In the latest sign of organized labor’s efforts to make inroads in Silicon Valley, the drivers of shuttle buses for employees at five big tech companies will vote late this month on representation by the Teamsters Union, the union said Thursday...
Trade
Latest TISA leak signals new threat to health services  NSW Nurses & Midwives' Association   …Fresh concerns have been raised by the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) over threats to the provision of health services in Australia as part of a trade deal being negotiated in secret by the Federal Government...
Strong dollar pushes US trade deficit higher  AFP   …The US trade deficit expanded sharply in 2014 as the stronger dollar encouraged record imports from China and the European Union, Commerce Department data released Thursday showed...
Breaking: Dismal new trade data shows more job loss from trade deals  TeamsterNation   ...The Census Bureau today released the bad news that the U.S. trade deficit rose 6 percent to a near-record high. "Trade deficit" is another phrase for "lost jobs."...
State Battles
Governor Of Illinois Takes Aim At Labor  New York Times   ...Joining the ranks of Republican governors taking aim at the power of labor unions, the new chief executive of Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner, said on Wednesday that the state should ban some political contributions by public employee unions and allow local “right to work” laws...
NLRB: Employer Letters Regarding Dues Payment Options Violated NLRA  National Law Review   ...Since Indiana became a Right-to-Work state, one of the most common employer questions has been – what can I tell my employees about when they can withdraw their dues authorization forms? The NLRB last week, in a non-RTW context, did give us some guidance – even though it’s probably guidance that most employers wouldn’t necessarily welcome...
Missouri House Panel Endorses 'Right To Work' Bills  KSDK   ...The House Workforce Standards and Development Committee on Wednesday approved three right-to-work bills, marking an early start on a measure that failed to pass the full chamber last year...
Lt. Governor Ready To Be Tiebreaker In Right-To-Work, Minimum Wage Votes  Albuquerque Business First   ...Sanchez said that as president of the New Mexico Senate and the tiebreaker, he'll vote for right-to-work legislation and support raising New Mexico's minimum wage to that of neighboring states. This year, for the first time in 60 years, the New Mexico House of Representatives is under Republican control, which gives measures such as right-to-work a greater chance of passing...
Wisconsin Reporter poll: Majority Of GOP Lawmakers Mum On Right-To-Work Vote  Wisconsin Reporter   ...In the Assembly, Republican lawmakers sound a little more squishy about right-to-work legislation. Several say they “support the concept” of allowing employees to decide whether they want to join a union and pay union dues, but they wouldn’t commit to voting for a bill...
Union Reps Protest Prevailing Wage Repeal Legislation  Charleston Gazette   ...Several labor and legislative leaders filled the main hall of the state Culture Center Wednesday afternoon, to discuss what they say are the negative impacts repealing West Virginia’s existing prevailing wage law would have on state workers...
Latest Bid For Minimum Wage Hike In Illinois Lets Chicago Go Higher  Chicago Sun Times   ...The latest bid to raise Illinois’ minimum wage could allow Chicago a higher wage than the rest of the state. However, the city would be prohibited from unilaterally raising its minimum wage beyond the $13 an hour by 2019 approved last year by the Chicago City Council...
Wyoming Lawmakers Again Reject Minimum-Wage Hike  Casper Star Journal   ...A second attempt to raise Wyoming’s minimum wage has failed. The Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee refused to advance Senate File 131 on Wednesday when none of the lawmakers on the panel seconded a motion by Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, to advance the bill...
War on Workers
Whether In Greece Or The U.S., It’s Clear: Austerity Doesn’t Work (opinion)  In These Times   ...Workers were the victims of austerity’s slashed public services, wages and jobs. Those demanding austerity—the 1 percent—and those imposing it—conservative politicians—escaped its bitter effects with shields of cash. Austerity was not for them. It was for those without big bankrolls. That would be bad enough if austerity worked. But, as Greece illustrates horribly, it does not...

Today's Teamster News 01.29.15

Teamsters
Shining the Light on Corporate Tax Breaks  teamster.org   ..."We need a more accurate accounting of tax abatements over the long term to “effectively bargain with our members’ governmental employers and to advocate for sound public policies that benefit our members working in the construction of infrastructure,” Hoffa said...
Tim Hortons can’t cut more than 20 per cent of HQ staff: Ottawa  The Star   ...Industry Canada says Burger King has agreed to keep 80 per cent of corporate jobs in takeover...“This round of layoffs should serve as a warning to Tim Hortons’ franchisees who depend on support from the company to grow their businesses, taxpayers who expect corporations to pay their fair share, and consumers who expect Tim Hortons to be a community leader in Canada,” said a group of union leaders from Unifor, Teamsters and SEIU Healthcare in a statement Wednesday...
Trade
Trans Pacific Pact is Almost Ready, Says US Trade Official Even As Protests Rock New York  International Business Times   …negotiators working on the TPP held parleys in New York City on Monday at an undisclosed location. But braving all secrecy, hundreds of protesters from drawn trade, labour, environmental, health, anti-GMO, food justice, anti-fracking, animal activists protested in the blizzard, against the trade agreement for its reported "fast tracking" by Trade Promotion Authority, according to Oped News...
Rep. Cooper must oppose Fast Track, defend TN economy (opinion)  The Tennessean   ...Rep. Cooper was one of just a handful of Democrats in the House of Representatives to not stand up against an undemocratic 1970s-era procedure known as Fast Track that has been used to railroad the most controversial and damaging of U.S. “trade” deals through Congress...
10 Tall Tales on Trade  Global Trade Watch   ...Here’s a rundown of the top 10 fibs and half-truths that Froman uttered before the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee yesterday in his sales pitch for the administration’s bid to expand the NAFTA “trade” pact model by Fast-Tracking through Congress the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
State Battles
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Previews 'Right-To-Work Zones' As First-Year Priority  Peoria Journal Star   ...Gov. Bruce Rauner said Tuesday he wants to prioritize creating "right-to-work zones" in economically depressed areas where local officials could decide whether union fees would be voluntary for local workers...
Logan County Gives First Nod To Right-To-Work Ordinance  Bowling Green Daily News   ...Logan County Fiscal Court approved the first reading of a right-to-work ordinance today. The ordinance passed unanimously on the first reading, Logan County Judge-Executive Logan Chick said in a phone interview. A final reading of the ordinance is scheduled for Feb. 24...
'Right To Work' Not Dead  WSAU   ...The controversial right-to-work legislation might not be on a fast track in Wisconsin, but it’s also not a dead issue. That’s according to state Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). “It’s still out there. I think it’s still something that deserves debate. The votes are probably there in the Assembly, which is odd that there’s so much focus on the Senate I guess, but that’s fine. I’m not counting noses, I’ve said all along. I’m still talking to members about how they feel about the issue.”...
New Kansas Job Figures Reveal Another Failure For Sam Brownback’s Tax Cuts (opinion)  Kansas City Star   ...The final Kansas job figures are in for 2014, and Gov. Sam Brownback’s costly income tax cut “experiment” has laid another egg. Total nonfarm employment climbed only 1,700 people in December, according to Tuesday’s release of figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, that means Kansas added a meager 12,800 jobs from December 2013 to December 2014, or barely more than 1,000 a month. That’s a puny growth rate of .9 percent, one of the lowest in the BLS data for 2014...
Senate Republicans Ready For A Fight On Right To Work Bill  Charleston Daily Mail   ...Five Republican lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, introduced Senate Bill 337 on Tuesday. The bill, known as “Creating Workplace Freedom Act,” would make West Virginia the 25th state in the country to adopt a right to work law. The Mountain State would be the first in the nation since 2012 when Michigan and Indiana became right to work states, if the bill is enacted...
House Panel Kills Minimum Wage Proposal  WTOP   ...A Republican-led House committee has killed a proposal to raise Virginia’s minimum wage...
Washington State House Weighs Minimum Wage Hike  KING5   ...Washington state's minimum wage, already the highest statewide wage in the country, would get a boost to $12 an hour over the next four years if lawmakers pass a bill under consideration by the state House...
War on Workers
Gains From Economic Recovery Still Limited to Top One Percent  New York Times   ... the economic recovery so far has only boosted the incomes of the rich, and it has yielded no improvement for the bottom 99 percent of the distribution. After adjusting for inflation, the average income for the richest 1 percent (excluding capital gains) has risen from $871,100 in 2009 to $968,000 over 2012 and 2013. By contrast, for the remaining 99 percent, average incomes fell by a few dollars from $44,000 to $43,900...
Here's How Much You Have To Earn To Be In The 1 Percent In Each State  Huffington Post   ...What does it take to make it into the 1 percent of earners? In Arkansas, you'd need to pull in $228,298 a year. In Connecticut, the threshold is $677,608...
Mexican authorities pronounce 43 missing students dead but parents reject murder theory  The Independent   ...The 43 students abducted by police in Mexico have been officially declared dead for the first time, despite the fact that remains of only one person have been identified. Parents accuse the government of trying to close an investigation that has implicated security forces, the army and a mayor in a case that shocked the world...
Oil Train Spills Hit Record Level In 2014  NBC News   ...By volume, that's dramatically less crude than trains spilled in 2013, when major derailments in Alabama and North Dakota leached a record 1.4 million gallons -- more than was lost in the prior 40 years combined. But by frequency of spills, 2014 set a new high with 141 "unintentional releases," according to data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). By comparison, between 1975 and 2012, U.S. railroads averaged just 25 spills a year...
On-Demand Workers: ‘We Are Not Robots’  Wall Street Journal   ...Current and former workers for Uber, Amazon Inc.’s Mechanical Turk and Handybook, better known as Handy, say on-demand work platforms give them little control over the terms of their labor, and complain that the contracts they’re required to accept force them to shoulder personal and financial risk without the returns or advantages they’d hoped for...
Worker dies on Taiwan film lot to be used for Scorsese movie  Associated Perss   …A worker was killed in an accident Thursday at a Taiwanese film lot during preparations for the shooting of a new Martin Scorsese movie, media reports said...
Miscellaneous
Scott Walker’s “Our American Revival” PAC Uses Foreign Stock Videos In Debut Ad  Buzzfeed   …Republican Gov. Scott Walker announced Tuesday the creation of a political action committee to help him raise money as he mulls a presidential run. The PAC, “Our American Revival,” debuted with this video…Several of the videos ... come from foreign-based photographers and appear to have been purchased through stock image sites...

Today's Teamster News 10.08.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Warehouse Workers Face a Bankruptcy Court Designed to Protect Bosses, Not Workers  In These Times   ...The Keene, New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers’s actions could prove to be an immediate threat to the livelihoods of about 1,100 Teamster members in the Mid-Atlantic region, the latest in a series of damaging anti-union maneuvers by the company. The action also highlights the growing market power of C&S, a low-profile company that has quietly grown into the nation’s largest warehousing corporation...
Investors, activists press eBay, others to break up with ALEC  Reuters   ...Civic groups such as Common Cause and the Environmental Defense Fund and unions including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters wrote to the e-commerce company's management asking it to reconsider involvement in ALEC because of what they called its "extreme agenda."...
Trade
TTIP Could Weaken Chemical Rules, Environmental Groups Say  Wall Street Journal   ...environmental groups worry the chemical industry will use these procedures to delay or block new restrictions or bans on chemicals that pose a threat to people or the environment...
TPP Talks Slated For Oct. 25 As Nations Scramble For Deal  law360   ...The Australian government announced Thursday that it will host a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade ministers this month to tackle outstanding provisions on intellectual property, agricultural market access, state-owned enterprises and other areas as negotiators race to close major parts of the pact by year's end...
State Battles
Walker administration denies complaint seeking to raise minimum wage  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...Gov. Scott Walker's administration has denied a complaint by a labor group seeking to force an increase in Wisconsin's minimum wage...The state law requires that Wisconsin's minimum wage "shall not be less than a living wage."...
Rochester Borough Says No To Police Outsourcing  Insurance News   ...After comments about sacrificing safety for potential savings, officials decided Tuesday to halt a conversation with the township about contracting out police services...
City To Ponder Raise For Contractor Workers  News Journal   ...Wilmington City Council will take action next month on an ordinance that will require employees of city contractors to get paid at least $10.10 an hour...
War On Workers
Freight Train Drivers Report Falling Asleep On The Job  CBC   ...Train operators in Canada’s burgeoning freight rail industry report falling asleep at the controls and coming to work exhausted at an alarmingly high rate, according to an ongoing CBC News investigation into rail safety...
43 Missing Students, a Mass Grave and a Suspect: Mexico’s Police  New York Times   ...they are among 43 students reported missing after deadly clashes with the police on Sept. 26, when at least six student protesters and bystanders were killed in the restive, rural state of Guerrero, one of the poorest in the country and long afflicted by political, social and criminal upheaval...
Las Vegas Schools Groan From Growing Pains  New York Times   ...Schools in this suddenly robust community are so packed these days that 13 of them stay open 12 months a year. Children go to classes and eat lunch in cramped, windowless trailers, bustling with restless students. Thousands more take online classes at home, and school district administrators, desperate for space, are looking to abandoned strip malls for classrooms...
The Great Wage Slowdown Of The 21st Century  New York Times   ...The typical American family makes less than the typical family did 15 years ago, a statement that hadn’t previously been true since the Great Depression...
American Agriculture's Child Labor Problem  KCET   ...Fourteen hour days with no pay, very little food, routinely beaten and whipped by overseers before being locked away in cramped quarters every night. The fact that U.S. companies were reaping the benefits of this slave labor was outrageous. But what's more disturbing is the fact that child labor exploitation isn't only occurring outside of America. It happens here, too. And it's not entirely illegal...
Construction worker dies on the job  KCCI News   ...Authorities say a construction worker has died after he was pinned under a piece of equipment in northwest Iowa...
Tualatin worker dies after being struck by large metal plates, state agency says  Oregon Live   ...A 27-year-old man hit by large metal plates while working at a Tualatin manufacturing business Monday morning has died, according to the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division...
Is Your Dentist Ripping You Off?  Mother Jones   ...more and more young dentists are taking jobs with chains, many of which set revenue quotas for practitioners. This has created some legal backlash: In 2012, for example, 11 patients sued (PDF) a 450-office chain called Aspen Dental, claiming that its model turns dentists into salespeople...
Microsoft’s Windows 10 has permission to watch your every move  Tech Worm   ...“Microsoft collects information about you, your devices, applications and networks, and your use of those devices, applications and networks. Examples of data we collect include your name, email address, preferences and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage.”...
Government Set Up A Fake Facebook Page In This Woman’s Name  Buzzfeed   ...A DEA agent commandeered a woman’s identity, created a phony Facebook account in her name, and posted racy photos he found on her seized cell phone. The government said he had the right to do that...

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas over banking secrets of the rich and famous

Three days ago, a former Swiss banker handed over two computer disks that describe potential tax evasion by 2,000 rich people and corporations. Rudolf Elmer gave the disks to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, at a press conference in London. He did it, he said, to “educate society” about an unfair secret banking system that serves people who want to launder money.

Assange said the names will be verified by WikiLeaks and released to the public in as few as two weeks.

That has created the fear and the loathing -- and lots of work for Vegas bookmakers who are taking bets on which celebrities, politicians and business executives will be exposed. FT Alphaville writes that bookmaker.com listed the following odds for the following celebrities on Wednesday:

Nicholas Cage +400 20%

Oprah Winfrey +250 28%
President Obama +600 14%
Wesley Snipes +200 33%
Mike Tyson +800 11%
Scott Disick +500 16%
Donald Trump +350 22%
John Edwards +400 20%
Two or more of these celebrities +100 50%

* The +/- indicates the return on the wager. The percentage is the likelihood that response will occur. For example: betting on the candidate least likely to win would earn the most amount of money, should that happen.

Meanwhile, Elmer will face trial in Switzerland for breaking Swiss laws on banking secrecy.

Why did he do it?

According to The Guardian,

he is one of a small band of employees and executives seeking to blow the whistle on what they see as unprofessional, immoral and even potentially criminal activity by powerful international financial institutions.

Elmer characterizes the people he's exposing as

"high net worth individuals", multinational conglomerates and financial institutions – hedge funds". They are said to be "using secrecy as a screen to hide behind in order to avoid paying tax". They come from the US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia – "from all over". Clients include "business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates – from both sides of the Atlantic". Elmer says: "Well-known pillars of society will hold investment portfolios and may include houses, trading companies, artwork, yachts, jewellery, horses, and so on."

TeamsterNation can't wait to find out.

Today's Teamster News 1.6.11

Sanitationmen tell their side of Christmas blizzard  (Local 831)  New York Daily News  ..."We were short 400 men and we had crappy equipment"...
IPhone -Eye Phone Group, Zing Launch iTRUCKit Delivery Assistant  (Local 804)  TMCnet     ...In collaboration with UPS package delivery drivers...Eye Phone Group together with Zing launched a new delivery assistant iPhone  application called iTRUCKit (which) allows simplified recording of day-to-day activity along with enhanced tracking...
At brewery, cost-cutting was the priority  The Virginia Gazette  ...Around 50 layoffs were anticipated at the brewery as more local cuts were imposed by InBev...
Las Vegas Convention Business Up From Last Year  8NewsNow  ...The convention center's recovering business is giving local workers some job security...
Fedex Adds China-India Air-Cargo Flights on `Dramatic' Growth  Bloomberg News  ...The company expects “dramatic growth in trade” between China and India...
Canadian oilsands pipeline 'crucial' to American economy: U.S. oil industry  The Vancouver Sun   ...American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard hailed Calgary-based TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline as vital to the recovery of the nation's economy...
Port of Seattle says emissions enforcement going smoothly  Land Line Magazine   ...the first few days of enforcement of the port’s new Clean Truck Program have resulted in few delays...
China to open Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail in June-Xinhua  Reuters   ...The ...819-mile... railway, which has cost ...$33.45 billion ...began construction in April 2008 and was originally planned to open in 2012...