Today's Teamster News 04.18.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Urge Investor Support For Changes At Swift Transportation  teamster.org   ...“The inability of Swift’s board to rein in CEO Moyes from pledging tens of millions of shares of Swift Transportation stock as collateral for personal loans or hundreds of millions of dollars in related-party transactions between Swift and Moyes-controlled businesses has put investors at risk and raises serious questions about the true independence and effectiveness of the company’s directors,” said Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters Union...
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is up to union-busting  teamster.org   ...The pension plan, which is funded by contributions by and on behalf of Ontario’s unionized teachers, is waging a ruthless, vindictive campaign of harassment, intimidation and threats against U.S. workers of a company it owns: Exal...
Animal activism is great. Why can't we get as loud on (human) workers' rights?  Guardian   ...Save the horses? How about save the horse carriage drivers? It's time to focus on the everyday abuse endured by actual people...
In Defense of New York’s Carriage Horse Industry  Brooklyn Magazine   ...It’s the carriage drivers who are concerned, first and foremost with the welfare of the horses...
Wabasha County Board Spars Over Social Media, Union Ad  Rochester Post Bulletin   ...What began as a review by Wabasha County board members Tuesday of a policy on use of social media drifted into a far ranging disagreement over who has been attacking whom, and whether the board chairman condoned a recent Teamsters ad...
Port Drivers File Complaint Over Working Conditions  The Times Herald   ...Port truck drivers who ferry goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for Total Transportation Services, Inc. today will urge the Port of Los Angeles to address what they contend are "serious hazards" in working conditions at the Carson company...
Trade
Malaysia stands firm on TPP ahead of Obama visit  Nikkei Asian Review   ...The Obama visit will not serve as pressure to sign the pact, Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said last month. The country's opposition to reforms setting conditions for competition between state-owned and private businesses is one reason for the stalemate in negotiations...
Workers Strike at Shoe Factory Over Benefits Dispute  New York Times   ...Tens of thousands of workers at one of the world’s largest shoe manufacturers are continuing a strike in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan in a dispute over benefits...
U.S. Agrees To Let Japanese Tariffs Stand On Rice, Wheat  The Japan Times   ...The United States has agreed to allow Japan to retain tariffs on rice and wheat, government sources said Thursday during bilateral talks related to the wider Pacific free trade negotiations...
State Battles
Mississippi Governor Signs 3 Bills Placing Limits On Labor Union Activities  The Republic   ...Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed three bills to limit union activities in Mississippi, saying he hopes they strengthen the state's reputation as a place where organized labor has little influence...
War On Workers
Sallie Mae Cheated Soldiers On Federal Student Loans, Government Investigators Find  Huffington Post   ...Federal investigators have uncovered evidence that Sallie Mae cheated active-duty soldiers on federal student loans, according to people familiar with the matter...
NYS Attorney General Issues Subpoenas to Least Lawyered-Up High Frequency Traders  Wall Street on Parade   ...Why not ask the three big stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and BATS to hand over the names of all high frequency traders to whom they have sold expensive perks that have the effect of rigging the stock market against the average investor.
...
Koch Brothers Net Worth Soars Past $100 Billion  Huffington Post   ...Charles and David Koch hit a milestone on Wednesday, as a $1.3 billion boost to their collective fortune sent their net worth above $100 billion, according to Bloomberg News...
Postal Union Fights Staples Partnership 'A Big Step Toward Privatization'  Huffington Post   ...On a recent Saturday morning, 500 protesters poured out of a parade of school buses, signs and megaphones in hand, and tried their best to shame a single Staples store just outside Chicago...
Some Exempted From Minimum Wage, Increased Or Not  Philly.com   ...Some low-paid workers won't benefit even if a long-shot Democratic proposal to raise the federal minimum wage becomes law. More than a dozen categories of jobs are exempt from the minimum, currently $7.25 an hour...
About 400 Chicago Concrete Truck Drivers Go On Strike  Chicago Tribune   ...About 400 concrete truck drivers walked off their jobs on Tuesday and Wednesday after rejecting a proposed labor contract with the Northern Illinois Ready Mix and Materials Association...

Today's Teamster News 03.02.14

Teamster News
Liam Neeson  The Daily Show   ..."Non-Stop" star Liam Neeson questions the American appreciation for tea, and defends New York City's horse and carriage industry...
Trade
Popular sentiment is hardening against free trade  Financial Times   ...Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement 20 years ago, voters have come to understand them better and like them less...
Trade deals a closely held secret, shared by more than 500 advisers  Washington Post   ...The details of the Obama administration’s proposals for a massive 12-nation trade zone in the Asia-Pacific region are off limits to most Americans, held close by negotiators who worry that too much openness would make it impossible to reach a deal...
State Battles
Ash Spill Shows How Watchdog Was Defanged  New York Times   ...The spill, which coated the river bottom 70 miles downstream and threatened drinking water and aquatic life, drew attention to a deal that the (North Carolina) environmental department’s new leadership reached with Duke last year over pollution from coal ash ponds. It included a minimal fine but no order that Duke remove the ash — the waste from burning coal to generate electricity — from its leaky, unlined ponds...
Trampling on our First Amendment Rights  Michigan AFL-CIO   ...The State House is contemplating the passage of HB 4643, a bill sponsored by Representative Tom McMillin (R). HB 4643 will result in civil fines of up to $10,000 per day for picketing that is deemed illegal; creating a huge chilling effect on your First Amendment rights...
No Attacks on Mississippi Workers  Mississippi AFL-CIO   ...(three) bills would limit the free speech rights of Mississippians and would restrict local governments from being able to hire local, skilled workers for construction projects and let shady contractors take these projects and bring in out-of-state workers to do the job...
Stand up for Missouri's Middle Class: Rally at Missouri State Capitol 3/26/14  Facebook   ...All union members are invited to join The Missouri State Building & Construction Trades for lobby day & rally at Noon...
Casey urges Pa. legislature to sidestep union bill  Associated Press   ...Stepping into a heated political battle, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is urging Republican leaders of Pennsylvania's legislature not to move forward on a bill that would make it harder for labor unions to collect dues and political action contributions through payroll deductions...
Assembly pares back 'living wage' ordinance  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...Working into the night as they near the end of the legislative session, Assembly Republicans on Thursday passed bills to sell vacant Milwaukee Public Schools buildings, to pare back a "living wage" ordinance for contractors in Milwaukee County and to redraw the shoreline of Lake Michigan in an attempt to boost a development in Milwaukee...
Walker Violated Public Records Law: So say former AG and Milwaukee supervisor  The Progressive   ...A former Wisconsin attorney general and a Milwaukee county supervisor who was subpoenaed by the John Doe prosecutor are both wondering why Scott Walker wasn’t charged with violating the state’s public records law while he was Milwaukee county executive...
Scott Walker campaign is paying for attorney working to fight John Doe investigation  blue cheddar   ...The attorney for Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign is named in a court order as a lawyer in a case challenging the ongoing secret investigation into possible illegal campaigning...
Wisconsin income gap widening faster than nation as a whole  The Cap Times   ...The top 1 percent in Wisconsin — households with incomes over $283,000 — captured 15.7 percent of all the income generated in the state in 2011. That compares to a 7 percent slice for the top 1 percent four decades ago...
The War on Workers

The Political Underbelly of the Pensions Crisis: What Broke the System, and How Do We Fix It?  Next New Deal   ...Beyond the economic crisis, which put enormous pressure on state and municipal budgets, a range of factors including poor decision-making and the influence of big money interests has led to the underfunding of some state and city public pensions...

Big-Money Donors Demand Larger Say in Party Strategy  New York Times   ...some of the biggest contributors to Republican outside groups in 2012 are now gravitating toward the more donor-centric political and philanthropic network overseen by Charles and David Koch, who have wooed them in part by promising more accountability over how money is spent...

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...

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...

Miss. private prison 'like a jungle'

Another private prison is exposed as a barbaric hellhole. This time it's in Mississippi.

We've told you about the private prison hellhole in Ohio owned by Corrections Corporation of America (a big ALEC supporter, of course). Abuse was rampant, conditions were abysmal.

Now Bloomberg tells us about Walnut Grove juvenile detention center in Malone, Miss. It was run by GEO Group, the private prison company in Florida that wanted to take over nearly half of the state's prisons last year. (They failed.)

The state finally took control of Walnut Grove back from GEO Group in 2012, fed up with its dangerous and derelict care. Bloomberg reports,

Staff shortages, mismanagement and lax oversight had long turned it into a cauldron of violence, where female employees had sex with inmates, pitted them against each other, gave them weapons and joined their gangs, according to court records, interviews and a U.S. Justice Department report.

Here's an account of one bloody riot at the prison. The guard captain knew it was coming, but management told him to handle it himself:

Eighteen corrections officers were at the prison the day of the assault, he said -- one for every 60 prisoners. One, a gang member herself, walked through the cellblock freeing Vice Lords, then left. When the beatings and stabbings stopped, six inmates were rushed to the hospital, one with permanent brain damage. 

“You got 60 inmates there and it’s just me,” said McAfee, the former guard and one of those who responded to the melee. “You just had to sit there and wait while people are fighting. It was a horrible experience.” 

The worst hurt was Michael McIntosh, then 20. Six weeks after the incident, his father found him in a hospital three hours away in Greenville. The younger McIntosh’s eyes were red and blinded by blood. He had a baseball-sized lump on his head, multiple stab wounds and brain damage. He made noises like a small child.

Read the whole thing here if you need any more convincing that private prisons are a bad idea.

States look to seize houses, cars, tax returns to pay for corporate subsidies

States are now looking to fill budget holes by seizing taxpayers' houses, cars and tax returns. They are not so eager to take back the cash that taxpayers gave to large corporations.

Forbes published an alarming story about states' "alternative, aggressive and controversial new proposals" to raise revenues:

Taxing authorities from Tennessee to New Jersey are reporting shortfalls and lags in collections activities just as cuts from federal funding are being felt. 

In Philadelphia, Revenue Commissioner Keith Richardson is “looking at a company that may help us to start taking people’s cars” to recoup some of the half-billion dollars in uncollected taxes, Forbes reports.

Philadelphia isn't quite so churlish with corporate taxpayers. GoodJobsFirst reports Pennsylvania spends hundreds of millions of dollars on corporate welfare.

Pennsylvania has been known to aggressively pursue very large deals, such as the $400 million it provided to a Norwegian company in 1997 for the redevelopment of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard ... To land a Westinghouse Electric nuclear engineering facility in 2006, the state even enacted a completely new subsidy program.

GoodJobsFirst noted corporations that get giant tax breaks from Pennsylvania aren't accountable for creating jobs. And often they don't.
 
Forbes reports Delaware is considering a law that would let school districts and counties seize a person's income tax refund to pay for unpaid property taxes. Meanwhile, click here to see the 667 corporate subsidies Delaware handed out since 2000 from GoodJobsFirst's subsidy tracker. They include 1.4 million to Summit Aviation, $16.5 million to Bloom Energy, $1.5 million to Pioneer Hi-Bred International.

A North Carolina County is going even further, reports Forbes.

In Jackson County ... if you don’t pay your taxes, you could lose your house. County tax collectors are using the threat of foreclosure to collect outstanding taxes, a tactic the county hadn’t used since the early 1980s. While effective – the county has collected about $1.2 million in payments from 85 individual tax delinquents – that level of aggressive collections is considered so contrary to public policy that even the Internal Revenue Service has been discouraged from the behavior... 

And yet the North Carolina AFL-CIO tells us that the Legislature last year rammed through a business tax loophole amounting to $336 million in revenue lost to the state every year.

Finally, Forbes reports the Mississippi state government has actively been seizing houses for non-payment of real estate and personal property taxes.

...the Secretary of State’s Office now holds more than $66.2 million of such property. Last year, the state stepped up efforts to return those properties to those willing to pay by auctioning off the properties. The state is now accepting bids, a win-win for the state: the state is paid for the properties and they get them back onto the tax rolls.

By now you won't be surprised to know that every year Mississippi spends $416 million on corporate incentive programs, or 9 cents out of every dollar, according to the New York Times. The Times estimates that every Mississippian pays $140 a year on corporate subsidies.

Or if they can't pay, the Mississippi takes their house.

Today's Teamster News 03.13.13

Are the Koch Brothers Trying to Buy the Los Angeles Times?  LA Weekly   ...Multiple sources tell L.A. Weekly that Charles and David Koch -- the infamous right-wing billionaire brothers -- are considering an offer on either the Tribune Co. newspaper group, which includes the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun or the entire Tribune Co., which includes more than 20 stations like WGN and KTLA Channel 5...
How Deadbeat Banks Pushed Detroit To The Brink  The National Memo   ...Detroit has been ravaged by an unending foreclosure crisis. Predatory loans trapped borrowers into monthly mortgage rates they couldn’t pay, with lenders particularly targeting lower-income minority areas like Detroit...
NLRB To Seek Supreme Court Review in Noel Canning v. NLRB  NLRB   ...The Board, in consultation with the Department of Justice, intends to file a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court for review of that decision....
If Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes, Why Should You?  Truthdig.com   ...60 of the largest U.S. corporations “parked a total of $166 billion offshore last year” shielding more than 40 percent of their profits from U.S. taxes. But they all still expect Uncle Sam to come to their aid with military firepower in case the natives abroad get restless and nationalize their company’s assets...
Job Openings Increase as U.S. Labor Market Improves   Bloomberg   ...The fewest workers on record were fired in January and job openings rebounded, showing employers are gaining confidence the U.S. expansion will be sustained even as lawmakers battle to trim the federal budget deficit...
TPP: What you need to know about this 'super-sized' trade deal  Rabble.ca   ...Like NAFTA, the TPP will handcuff our ability to set regulations in key areas like finance, industry, the environment, public procurement and fostering programs to create jobs at home. Free trade offers corporate subsidies for the rich and cut-throat competition for everyone else...
Lawmakers grill Cordray in duel over consumer watchdog  MoneyWatch   ...No legislators or financial experts question Cordray's credentials to lead the CFPB. But congressional Republicans have opposed the bureau even before it was created in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which seeks to protect people from deceptive financial practices...
Mo. House endorses union paycheck bill  Associated Press   ...After steadfast opposition from Democrats, the Missouri House and Senate each endorsed separate measures Tuesday that would change the way labor unions can collect and spend fees...
Appeals court refuses to grant stay in Act 10 case  WisPolitics Budget Blog   ...A state appeals court refused today to stay a Dane County judge's ruling that the governor's collective bargaining changes for some municipal employees are unconstitutional....
Florida senate president aims to hand out rare pay raises  Florida Today   ...The Senate president reiterated Friday that lawmakers will try to give state workers their first raise in six years, though he warned about the unpredictable nature of economic circumstances that could derail the plan...
Poll: Tom Corbett losing to 5 Democratic hopefuls  Politico   ...Only a third of voters approve of the Republican’s job performance. Fifty-eight percent disapprove...
Compass: Mayor's labor law guts a system that works for the city (opinion) Anchorage Daily News   ...these drastic rules would end forever a cost-effective system that for decades has worked fairly for taxpayers and employees. Sullivan's new law is a stab in the back to every citizen of Anchorage...
Soda Wars Backlash: Mississippi Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg' Bill  National Public Radio   ...A bill now on the governor's desk would bar counties and towns from enacting rules that require calorie counts to be posted, that cap portion sizes, or that keep toys out of kids' meals...
State pays millions as prison populations sink  Colorado Public News   ...Colorado’s governor and legislature quietly agreed last year to pay millions to a private prison company for cells the state would not need...
Twinkies sold by Hostess Brands in private equity deal  BBC News   ...In a joint bid, Metropoulos & Co and Apollo Global Management are paying $410m (£275m) for the bankrupt company...
Teamsters Call On TSA To Reverse Policy Allowing Knives On Planes  IBT  ...The Transportation Security Administration's recent decision allowing knives in the aircraft cabin is an outrageous move that will endanger the security of the flying public and the safety of thousands of flight attendants and pilots, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said today...
California Teamsters Urge Fair Treatment Of Immigrants  IBT  ...Teamsters Joint Council 7 spoke out at a recent hearing on the abuse of immigrant workers by California businesses. The hearing, called for by Assemblymember Roger Hernandez, Chair of the Assembly Labor & Employment Committee, included testimony from immigrant workers at Marquez Brothers and the warehouse, car wash and recycling industries...
Teamsters Local 705 on strike at sanitary district  NWITimes.com   ...District officials have said the two sides are stuck on issues related to wages and health insurance premium contributions, but Neil Messino, the Teamsters' contract administrator, said Monday the union has filed an unfair labor practices charge against Thorn Creek officials, saying they have refused to bargain in good faith with the union...

Today's Teamster News 02.19.13

Job-Killing Trade Deficits Soar under "Free Trade" Agreements  Public Citizen   ... the newly-released government trade data for 2012 shows that job-eroding U.S. trade deficits have ballooned with "free trade" agreement (FTA) partners while declining with the rest of the world...
Mississippi Officially Ratifies the 13th Amendment and Outlaws Slavery  Deep South Progressive   ...Mississippi had in fact voted to ratify the amendment in a more timely fashion – only 130 years late in 1995 – but because of an "oversight" in which the state never officially notified the US Archivist, it wasn't official. That glaring "oversight" has been corrected...
Incoming SEC head faces early test  Financial Times   ...A proposal to force public companies for the first time to disclose all their political activity to investors is emerging as an early litmus test for Mary Jo White...
Now A Vast Political Espionage Scandal To Top Off The Sordid Corruption Scandal In Spain  Testosterone Pit   ...Spain just can’t catch a break—a horrid economy with dizzying unemployment, collapsing banks, a prime minister and ruling party tarred by corruption.... Now a political espionage scandal blew up, scattering debris and money laundering allegations far and wide...
Rally held in Joplin against right-to-work push  Joplin Globe   ...Jim Kabell, a representative of Teamsters Local 245 in Springfield, was one of the morning’s featured speakers. “This is long-term bad for Missouri workers,” Kabell said...
National conservative group's 'model legislation' ends up becoming law in Oklahoma  The Oklahoman   ...“Model legislation” developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council or shared through conferences the council has hosted, played a part in a 2006 “Stand Your Ground” law that allows Oklahomans to use deadly force when threatened in public places, a 2010 resolution that prohibits any law from compelling a person to purchase health care and a state question that same year that requires voters to show an identification card before receiving a ballot...
GOP Electoral Vote Scheme Still Alive And Kicking In Pennsylvania  Talking Points Memo   ...State Senate president Dominic Pileggi (R) is pushing a plan to change Pennsylvania’s current winner-take-all allocation of the state’s 20 electoral votes to a system that apportions them proportionally by each candidate’s share of the statewide vote...
NH Voter ID Law Under Attack  Lawrence Eagle-Tribune   ...A year after New Hampshire asked voters to present photo identifications at the polls, state lawmakers are considering repeal of the new Voter ID Law...
Winds of protest still blow around Wisconsin Capitol  USA Today   ...Anger over Gov. Scott Walker's union measures hasn't subsided two years later...
DeCesare pushes right-to-work bill  The Daily News   ...Proposed right-to-work and prevailing wage legislation was filed as a rallying point, not necessarily with the expectation it would immediately pass, a local (Kentucky) lawmaker says...
Right-to-work roils Dem leadership  Crain's Detroit Business   ...A rift among Michigan Democrats over the future leadership of the party has pitted longtime state party chairman Mark Brewer against challenger Lon Johnson, who has deep ties to Washington...
GOP wary of measures attacking unions  Arizona Daily Sun   ...House Speaker Andy Tobin is sidelining two anti-union measures rather than bringing them to the floor for a divisive -- and potentially losing -- vote...
American Airlines, US Airways Merger: Teamsters Look To Acquire AA Mechanic Representation At Tulsa Maintenance Base  International Business Times   ...The Teamsters Airline Division and the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition is looking to capitalize on the recently announced merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC)...