Teamsters
Teamsters' Hoffa urges Congress to back Keystone bill Fox News …Teamsters boss James Hoffa, in an interview with Fox News, urged Congress to pass a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline and claimed the push is "gaining momentum."...
Michigan Steelworkers Vote to Join Teamsters teamster.org …Workers at TCT Stainless Steel in Sterling Heights, Mich. recently voted to join Teamsters Local 283 in Wyandotte, Mich. There are 17 workers in the new bargaining unit and the vote count was 12-5 for Teamster representation…
Key West, Workers Union To Ratify Contract Keynoter ...The Key West City Commission will consider a new collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 769 at the commission's meeting at Old City Hall Wednesday evening. The union, which represents about 200 city employees, includes administrative assistants, bus drivers and maintenance workers...
Trade
U.S. senator says wants to introduce fast-track trade bill by end January Reuters ...He said the aim was to move the bill out of the committee stage by the end of February, which could suggest a vote in March...
Trans Pacific Partnership: Obama Ready To Defy Democrats To Push Secretive Trade Deal The Guardian ...The TPP is one of the largest international trade agreements the US will sign, yet most of it is mired in secrecy. Congress won’t have access to the TPP before it is signed, and the terms won’t be publicly disclosed – ironic since the negotiations include 600 corporate advisers, including representatives of Halliburton and Caterpillar...
Will Democrats Spoil Obama's Trade Initiatives? The Atlantic …"We will do what we can in the Senate to defeat this unfortunate proposal," declared Bernie Sanders, the Vermont liberal who is considering a long-shot bid for the presidency. American workers, he said, should not "have to compete against people in Vietnam who have a minimum wage of 56 cents an hour."…
State Battles
Right To Work Pro, Con Marshal Forces Albuquerque Journal ...Union leaders Jon Hendry of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Carter Bundy of the AFSCME say passing right-to-work legislation would bring low-wage jobs. They say it’s a political argument and that supporters are trying to undermine the ability of unions to represent workers at all levels...
Minimum wage hike for NM now has bipartisan support Albuquerque Business First …Nate Gentry (R-Albuquerque), who is the Majority Floor Leader of the New Mexico House of Representatives, said Republicans support raising the statewide minimum wage — just not to the same level as Democrats...
Bill Would Raise Montana's Minimum Wage To $10.10 Helena Independent Record ...Minimum wage workers in Montana would receive about a 25 percent increase in hourly pay under legislation proposed in the Senate. Democratic Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder called Senate Bill 2 an economic development measure as he introduced it in the Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesday...
Newly-inaugurated Governor Tom Wolf pushes for increased minimum wage in PA The Daily Pennsylvanian …Wolf advocated for Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to increase from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour. In addition, the minimum wage would be indexed to inflation...
Roads, Pensions, Oh My: Sam Brownback’s Kansas Endures Another Day Of Woeful Budget News (opinion) Kansas City Star ...Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget plan is just a few days old, but Kansas legislators on Tuesday already were hearing just how bad things could get in the next few years. In other words, it was just another normal day of money woes in the financially strapped Sunflower State...
Some N.D. Dairy Farmers Want To Follow S.D.'s Lead And Allow Corporate Operators Into State Grand Forks Herald ...Some producers say they would like to follow South Dakota’s lead to allow corporate farming in an effort to lure more dairy operators into the state...
S.C. Gov. Haley Lambastes Unions, Organizing Efforts At Boeing In State Address Seattle Times ...Gov. Nikki Haley used part of her State of the State address Wednesday to promote South Carolina’s anti-union reputation and try to kill efforts to unionize Boeing’s North Charleston plant...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: Repealing prevailing wage could hurt skilled trades Michigan Live …As for Republican legislative proposals to repeal prevailing wage, Snyder said repealing prevailing wage could have an adverse impact on the skilled trades...
War on Workers
Tracking Inequality in America Wall Street Journal …People in every age group under 65 have a net worth that’s significantly lower now than it was in 1989…. Households led by people age 35-44 saw the biggest drop, down 54%, with rising mortgage debt largely to blame. In 1989, these families had a median mortgage of $72,000 against a median home value of $145,000. By 2013, the home value for this age group was somewhat higher at $170,000, but the size of mortgages had nearly doubled to $140,000...
Unions Warn About One Man Per Train North Platte Bulletin ...Thanks to the joint opposition of the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (a labor negotiating committee) has dropped its insistence on single person crews in current bargaining...
Senate Democrats Stand Up For Speedier Union Elections Huffington Post …Democratic support in the upper chamber could be critical in avoiding a future budget bill rider that would block the reforms, should Republicans try to go that route...
Worker killed in accident at White Meadows Farms Niagara This Week …Niagara Regional Police media officer Const. Rich Gadreau said the investigation revealed a 36-year-old man was fatally injured when he was struck by a moving concrete block...
Mine worker killed in Missouri accident KTVI …The worker was reportedly removing loose rock when some loose material fell and struck the cab of his equipment...
Power Worker Killed By Tree On GA 400 WSB ...Authorities tell Channel 2 Action News the tree fell on a Sawnee EMC employee along Georgia 400 on the south side of the county...
Miscellaneous
Keystone XL Pipeline Files For Eminent Domain In Nebraska KNOP ...This action was required within two years of TransCanada receiving its January 2013 approval in Nebraska. That time period expires on January 22, 2015. An agreement without Eminent Domain can still be reached if TransCanada and land owners can negotiate voluntary easement agreements...
The Only Problem With the Greatest Hoodie Ever Made Slate …American Giant designs and manufactures its clothes in the United States, yet the firm has found a way to keep its quality high and its prices comparable to those of other high-end retailers...
Showing posts with label Nikki Haley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nikki Haley. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2015
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Today's Teamster News 12.04.14
Teamster News
Lackluster Support For de Blasio’s Horse Carriage Ban New York Post ...A majority of council members told The Post on Monday that they’re either undecided on the measure or don’t agree that the plan to offer a green-taxi permit — worth about $6,000 — in exchange for a horse-drawn carriage license is fair...
ICS Workers Vote To Join Teamsters Local 117 teamster.org ...Workers at Industrial Container Services (ICS) have voted, via an NLRB election, to join Teamsters Local 117! The vote took place on December 1st at the company's facility in Seattle. ICS is one of the largest suppliers of reusable containers in the U.S...
NetJets Slammed By Teamsters Union In Contract Fight ValueWalk ...Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus, Ohio is duking it out with fractional aircraft ownership company Netjets in a compensation and benefits contract dispute...
Former GCC General Counsel Pens Novel about Teamsters teamster.org ...“Cannons for the Cause,” a novel written by Martin R. Ganzglass, who for 40 years was General Counsel to what is today the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters Union, was recently published by Peace Corps Worldwide and is available from Amazon...
Trade
TTIP: One million protestors sign petition against controversial EU and US trade deal International Business Times ...The World Development Movement (WDM) has raked in over a million online and "hard copy" signatures urging EU member states to stop the TTIP negotiations, as public concern grows over the protection of the NHS, employment rights, and a provision in the small print that would allow investors to sue governments...
Strange Bedfellows Are Blocking The McConnell-Obama Trade Deal Huffington Post ...Prior to 2011, it was rare for a Republican Congress to block government perks for major corporations. But tea party-backed members have bucked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with the lobbying group's top congressional supporters, McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), almost as a matter of routine...
Tea Party Takes Aim at Obama-Republican Accord on Trade Policy Bloomberg News ...The Tea Party is aiming to stop one of the few initiatives President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress say they both want in the coming year: more free trade...
President Obama Presses Democrats to Support Trade Deals Wall Street Journal ...Efforts in Congress to move legislation that would smooth passage of an agreement—a measure known as fast track or trade promotion authority—foundered in January after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) eschewed a bill hammered out by committee leaders in the House and Senate and supported by Mr. Obama. Since then, Republican leaders, who support the administration’s trade policy, have criticized Mr. Obama for not doing more to get support from Democratic lawmakers...
State Battles
Legislator To Introduce Right-To-Work Legislation Associated Press ...A Republican lawmaker promised Tuesday to introduce a right-to-work bill, prompting warnings from a Democratic leader that the state could see a round of protests reminiscent of the massive demonstrations against Gov. Scott Walker’s law stripping public workers of their union rights...
Florida's Minimum Wage Will Rise To $8.05 On Jan. 1 Sun Sentinel ...The state's minimum wage will increase to $8.05, up 12 cents from $7.93 in 2014. For tipped employees, the minimum wage required is at least $5.03 an hour...
Gov. Scott Walker To Blame For Budgetary Problems (opinion) Badger Herald ...We will be eight years removed from the last recession and due for another when the disastrous effects of Walker’s inane budgeting will manifest, leaving Wisconsin with nothing to absorb the shock of potential revenue shortfalls...Walker and company still have a $1.4 billion deficit to deal with...
Nikki Haley Wants To Know What Medicines You’re Taking Fits News ...Onetime Tea Party darling Nikki Haley is endorsing a plan that would require doctors to provide state government with their patients’ prescription records – part of her administration’s efforts to combat so-called “rampant prescription drug abuse” in South Carolina...
Proposal To Rig The Electoral College Triggers Backlash From Michigan Residents Think Progress ...Today, the Republican-controlled state legislature held a second hearing on a bill that would change the way the state’s 16 electoral votes are awarded, giving more to the candidate that loses the popular vote in a presidential race...
War on Workers
An Assortment of Data Shows a Resurgent U.S. Economy, but Wages Continue to Lag Reuters ...The nation’s private businesses added workers at a fairly brisk clip in November and the services sector grew strongly, suggesting a slowing global economy is having a limited impact on domestic activity. Strengthening labor market conditions, however, have yet to spur faster wage growth...
Airport Workers At 10 Airports To Join With $15 Hour Fast Food Strikers December 4 Forbes ...Airport workers at 10 major airports – including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle – have written to the CEOs of the six major US Airlines – Delta, American, JetBlue, United, Southwest and Alaska – stating that “as airport workers we have pledged to stand together with people who work in home care and fast food to fight for $15 an hour wages...
Debt Collectors Paying To Use Prosecutors’ Letterheads To Get People To Pay Consumerist ...There are programs around the country through which for-profit debt collectors can be allowed to use prosecutors’ letterhead in correspondence with consumers about debts or allegations of writing bad checks...
Middle Class Families Will Have The Hardest Time Paying Off Holiday Debt FiveThirtyEight ...When they first got married in 2008, Deacon and Kim Hayes were carried away by their holiday shopping. With two incomes from their sales and teaching jobs, the Arizona couple wasn’t worried about finances — which is how they ended up with holiday debt that took months to pay off...
Striking FairPoint Workers Go Without Paychecks for 7 Weeks NECN ...As of Dec. 2, it's been 47 days since more than 2,000 FairPoint workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont walked off the job. The striking workers haven't seen a paycheck in seven weeks and the company cut off their health care benefits at the end of Oct...
Transit workers and riders, unite! AlJazeera America ...U.S. cities are facing tight budgets in maintaining their networks of buses, trains and light rail. As with other publicly funded services, such as education, city managers and elected officials are trying to scapegoat public employees rather than fight to secure the resources needed to protect both quality public service and living-wage jobs...
Farm Worker Dies In Grain Bin Accident Dexter Daily Statesman ...A farm worker died Tuesday afternoon after being buried in a grain bin on property north of Idalia in Stoddard County...
Construction worker struck and killed on Route 422 in Chester County WPVI TV ...Police say 60-year-old Lee Boyer of Liberty, Pennsylvania was helping set cones for a lane closure when he was struck by a Jeep Liberty SUV...
Miscellaneous
End is near for red light cameras in New Jersey WPVI TV ...During the five years of the red light camera pilot program, drivers have complained bitterly about yellow lights that are so short you couldn't help but run the red...
Lackluster Support For de Blasio’s Horse Carriage Ban New York Post ...A majority of council members told The Post on Monday that they’re either undecided on the measure or don’t agree that the plan to offer a green-taxi permit — worth about $6,000 — in exchange for a horse-drawn carriage license is fair...
ICS Workers Vote To Join Teamsters Local 117 teamster.org ...Workers at Industrial Container Services (ICS) have voted, via an NLRB election, to join Teamsters Local 117! The vote took place on December 1st at the company's facility in Seattle. ICS is one of the largest suppliers of reusable containers in the U.S...
NetJets Slammed By Teamsters Union In Contract Fight ValueWalk ...Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus, Ohio is duking it out with fractional aircraft ownership company Netjets in a compensation and benefits contract dispute...
Former GCC General Counsel Pens Novel about Teamsters teamster.org ...“Cannons for the Cause,” a novel written by Martin R. Ganzglass, who for 40 years was General Counsel to what is today the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters Union, was recently published by Peace Corps Worldwide and is available from Amazon...
Trade
TTIP: One million protestors sign petition against controversial EU and US trade deal International Business Times ...The World Development Movement (WDM) has raked in over a million online and "hard copy" signatures urging EU member states to stop the TTIP negotiations, as public concern grows over the protection of the NHS, employment rights, and a provision in the small print that would allow investors to sue governments...
Strange Bedfellows Are Blocking The McConnell-Obama Trade Deal Huffington Post ...Prior to 2011, it was rare for a Republican Congress to block government perks for major corporations. But tea party-backed members have bucked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with the lobbying group's top congressional supporters, McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), almost as a matter of routine...
Tea Party Takes Aim at Obama-Republican Accord on Trade Policy Bloomberg News ...The Tea Party is aiming to stop one of the few initiatives President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress say they both want in the coming year: more free trade...
President Obama Presses Democrats to Support Trade Deals Wall Street Journal ...Efforts in Congress to move legislation that would smooth passage of an agreement—a measure known as fast track or trade promotion authority—foundered in January after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) eschewed a bill hammered out by committee leaders in the House and Senate and supported by Mr. Obama. Since then, Republican leaders, who support the administration’s trade policy, have criticized Mr. Obama for not doing more to get support from Democratic lawmakers...
State Battles
Legislator To Introduce Right-To-Work Legislation Associated Press ...A Republican lawmaker promised Tuesday to introduce a right-to-work bill, prompting warnings from a Democratic leader that the state could see a round of protests reminiscent of the massive demonstrations against Gov. Scott Walker’s law stripping public workers of their union rights...
Florida's Minimum Wage Will Rise To $8.05 On Jan. 1 Sun Sentinel ...The state's minimum wage will increase to $8.05, up 12 cents from $7.93 in 2014. For tipped employees, the minimum wage required is at least $5.03 an hour...
Gov. Scott Walker To Blame For Budgetary Problems (opinion) Badger Herald ...We will be eight years removed from the last recession and due for another when the disastrous effects of Walker’s inane budgeting will manifest, leaving Wisconsin with nothing to absorb the shock of potential revenue shortfalls...Walker and company still have a $1.4 billion deficit to deal with...
Nikki Haley Wants To Know What Medicines You’re Taking Fits News ...Onetime Tea Party darling Nikki Haley is endorsing a plan that would require doctors to provide state government with their patients’ prescription records – part of her administration’s efforts to combat so-called “rampant prescription drug abuse” in South Carolina...
Proposal To Rig The Electoral College Triggers Backlash From Michigan Residents Think Progress ...Today, the Republican-controlled state legislature held a second hearing on a bill that would change the way the state’s 16 electoral votes are awarded, giving more to the candidate that loses the popular vote in a presidential race...
War on Workers
An Assortment of Data Shows a Resurgent U.S. Economy, but Wages Continue to Lag Reuters ...The nation’s private businesses added workers at a fairly brisk clip in November and the services sector grew strongly, suggesting a slowing global economy is having a limited impact on domestic activity. Strengthening labor market conditions, however, have yet to spur faster wage growth...
Airport Workers At 10 Airports To Join With $15 Hour Fast Food Strikers December 4 Forbes ...Airport workers at 10 major airports – including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle – have written to the CEOs of the six major US Airlines – Delta, American, JetBlue, United, Southwest and Alaska – stating that “as airport workers we have pledged to stand together with people who work in home care and fast food to fight for $15 an hour wages...
Debt Collectors Paying To Use Prosecutors’ Letterheads To Get People To Pay Consumerist ...There are programs around the country through which for-profit debt collectors can be allowed to use prosecutors’ letterhead in correspondence with consumers about debts or allegations of writing bad checks...
Middle Class Families Will Have The Hardest Time Paying Off Holiday Debt FiveThirtyEight ...When they first got married in 2008, Deacon and Kim Hayes were carried away by their holiday shopping. With two incomes from their sales and teaching jobs, the Arizona couple wasn’t worried about finances — which is how they ended up with holiday debt that took months to pay off...
Striking FairPoint Workers Go Without Paychecks for 7 Weeks NECN ...As of Dec. 2, it's been 47 days since more than 2,000 FairPoint workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont walked off the job. The striking workers haven't seen a paycheck in seven weeks and the company cut off their health care benefits at the end of Oct...
Transit workers and riders, unite! AlJazeera America ...U.S. cities are facing tight budgets in maintaining their networks of buses, trains and light rail. As with other publicly funded services, such as education, city managers and elected officials are trying to scapegoat public employees rather than fight to secure the resources needed to protect both quality public service and living-wage jobs...
Farm Worker Dies In Grain Bin Accident Dexter Daily Statesman ...A farm worker died Tuesday afternoon after being buried in a grain bin on property north of Idalia in Stoddard County...
Construction worker struck and killed on Route 422 in Chester County WPVI TV ...Police say 60-year-old Lee Boyer of Liberty, Pennsylvania was helping set cones for a lane closure when he was struck by a Jeep Liberty SUV...
Miscellaneous
End is near for red light cameras in New Jersey WPVI TV ...During the five years of the red light camera pilot program, drivers have complained bitterly about yellow lights that are so short you couldn't help but run the red...
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Today's Teamster News 09.23.14
Teamster News
More Labor Problems at Buffett's NetJets IBT ...As contract talks drag on at Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK/B) NetJets, Inc., unionized pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and related employees, maintenance controllers, stock clerks and flight dispatchers are picketing at customer locations in California, New Jersey and the company's Columbus, Ohio corporate headquarters, according to the NetJets Union Coalition (NUC). NUC is a coalition between the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), the pilots' union, and the Teamsters, which represents all of the other unionized NetJets employees...
Trade
TTIP: don’t mention the job losses The Broker ...The headline finding from the official assessment of TTIP is that there will be a loss of at least one million jobs in the EU and US as a direct result of the agreement’s coming into force...
State Battles
Moral Mondays battles low pay, injustice, racism and more Indianapolis Star ...About 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on Saturday to fight for better pay, affordable health care, equal justice and other causes...
Google: We’re parting with the climate change skeptics at ALEC Washington Post ...Google is going to stop funding a key conservative group because of its stance on climate change, executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed Monday...
Declining median incomes becomes anti-Rick Scott talking point for Fla. Dems St. Peters Blog ...Average household incomes in South Florida are declining. A study released Thursday by the U.S. Census bureau shows median income in 2013 at $46,946 down from $48,275 in 2010...
Christie's Pension Overseer Invested New Jersey Money In Fund He Is Linked To Privately International Business Times ...Grady was pushing to invest New Jersey public money into the same Blackstone fund in which his own firm was investing -- without disclosing that fact to N.J. officials...
In Brownbackistan, Everything Is Awesome! And Don’t Let Any Liberal Tell You Different Salon.com ...You’ve got runaway incompetence in the state administration; heavy-handed partisanship, with conservative Republicans crushing moderate Republicans after the familiar pattern; corporate money—Koch Industries is based in Wichita—sloshing around like a vast underground aquifer. You’ve got privatization, deregulation, and an enthusiastic race to the bottom...
Nikki Haley Busted Inflating Job Numbers...Again FitsNews ...For a third time, a mainstream media outlet in the Palmetto State has caught S.C. Gov.Nikki Haley inflating her administration’s job numbers...
State Has No Budget For Voter ID, Agencies Say Wisconsin State Journal ...Three state agencies charged with implementing voter ID for the Nov. 4 election say they have no additional money set aside to help voters and state workers comply with the newly reinstated requirement...
War On Workers
Obama Administration Issues New Rules to Combat Tax Inversions Wall Street Journal ...The Treasury Department tightened tax rules Monday to deter U.S. companies from moving their legal headquarters to lower-tax countries, part of a White House effort to slow a wave of so-called corporate inversions that effectively reduce federal revenues...
Dangers Aside, Railways Reshape Crude Market Wall Street Journal ...But it has frightened communities across the country where first responders fear the fireballs that have erupted in the past year after some oil-train derailments. Federal regulators recently proposed new rules to require sturdier cars to carry oil, lower speed limits on some shipments and testing of the volatility of the crude transported by train...
OSHA Will Put Workplace Safety Data Online As 'Nudge' To Employers Bloomberg Businessweek ...Starting in January, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require employers to notify the government within 24 hours every time someone loses an eye, suffers an amputation, or gets admitted to the hospital with an injury sustained at work. The agency estimates that tens of thousands of injuries go unreported...
D.C. Cab Companies Blame Steep Declines In Revenue On Ridesharing WAMU ...The rise of the “ridesharing” service UberX is bleeding traditional taxicabs in Washington. Although precise District-wide data is not available, taxicab company managers and individual drivers said their business is down at least 20 percent — and in some cases much more — because they cannot compete with the unregulated, low-price competition of UberX...
Oregon Residents Challenge the State "Right-to-Farm" Law The Progressive ...Such so-called "right-to-farm" laws insulate agricultural operations -- including large industrial livestock confinement operations and, in Oregon, private timber companies -- against lawsuits as long as they're following what is (or, in some cases, may become) a "generally accepted" farming or forest practice. These can include heavy aerial pesticide applications...
U.S. Home Sales Falter as Investors Pull Back Wall Street Journal ...The decline reflected fewer purchases by investors, who helped fuel the housing-market rebound. The share of overall sales that went to investors fell to 12% last month, the lowest level since late 2009. Investors accounted for as much as 23% of sales in early 2012 as they bought up properties, many in foreclosure, at bargain prices...
Lincoln County worker killed in dump truck wreck, fire The Clarion-Ledger ...A Lincoln County road crew member was killed in what appears to be a wreck in which his dump truck left the road, hit a tree and caught on fire, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing...
Construction worker killed falling from building in Waterloo CTV News ...An 18-year-old man is dead after falling from a building at the Barrel Yards development in Waterloo...
More Labor Problems at Buffett's NetJets IBT ...As contract talks drag on at Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK/B) NetJets, Inc., unionized pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and related employees, maintenance controllers, stock clerks and flight dispatchers are picketing at customer locations in California, New Jersey and the company's Columbus, Ohio corporate headquarters, according to the NetJets Union Coalition (NUC). NUC is a coalition between the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), the pilots' union, and the Teamsters, which represents all of the other unionized NetJets employees...
Trade
TTIP: don’t mention the job losses The Broker ...The headline finding from the official assessment of TTIP is that there will be a loss of at least one million jobs in the EU and US as a direct result of the agreement’s coming into force...
State Battles
Moral Mondays battles low pay, injustice, racism and more Indianapolis Star ...About 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on Saturday to fight for better pay, affordable health care, equal justice and other causes...
Google: We’re parting with the climate change skeptics at ALEC Washington Post ...Google is going to stop funding a key conservative group because of its stance on climate change, executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed Monday...
Declining median incomes becomes anti-Rick Scott talking point for Fla. Dems St. Peters Blog ...Average household incomes in South Florida are declining. A study released Thursday by the U.S. Census bureau shows median income in 2013 at $46,946 down from $48,275 in 2010...
Christie's Pension Overseer Invested New Jersey Money In Fund He Is Linked To Privately International Business Times ...Grady was pushing to invest New Jersey public money into the same Blackstone fund in which his own firm was investing -- without disclosing that fact to N.J. officials...
In Brownbackistan, Everything Is Awesome! And Don’t Let Any Liberal Tell You Different Salon.com ...You’ve got runaway incompetence in the state administration; heavy-handed partisanship, with conservative Republicans crushing moderate Republicans after the familiar pattern; corporate money—Koch Industries is based in Wichita—sloshing around like a vast underground aquifer. You’ve got privatization, deregulation, and an enthusiastic race to the bottom...
Nikki Haley Busted Inflating Job Numbers...Again FitsNews ...For a third time, a mainstream media outlet in the Palmetto State has caught S.C. Gov.Nikki Haley inflating her administration’s job numbers...
State Has No Budget For Voter ID, Agencies Say Wisconsin State Journal ...Three state agencies charged with implementing voter ID for the Nov. 4 election say they have no additional money set aside to help voters and state workers comply with the newly reinstated requirement...
War On Workers
Obama Administration Issues New Rules to Combat Tax Inversions Wall Street Journal ...The Treasury Department tightened tax rules Monday to deter U.S. companies from moving their legal headquarters to lower-tax countries, part of a White House effort to slow a wave of so-called corporate inversions that effectively reduce federal revenues...
Dangers Aside, Railways Reshape Crude Market Wall Street Journal ...But it has frightened communities across the country where first responders fear the fireballs that have erupted in the past year after some oil-train derailments. Federal regulators recently proposed new rules to require sturdier cars to carry oil, lower speed limits on some shipments and testing of the volatility of the crude transported by train...
OSHA Will Put Workplace Safety Data Online As 'Nudge' To Employers Bloomberg Businessweek ...Starting in January, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require employers to notify the government within 24 hours every time someone loses an eye, suffers an amputation, or gets admitted to the hospital with an injury sustained at work. The agency estimates that tens of thousands of injuries go unreported...
D.C. Cab Companies Blame Steep Declines In Revenue On Ridesharing WAMU ...The rise of the “ridesharing” service UberX is bleeding traditional taxicabs in Washington. Although precise District-wide data is not available, taxicab company managers and individual drivers said their business is down at least 20 percent — and in some cases much more — because they cannot compete with the unregulated, low-price competition of UberX...
Oregon Residents Challenge the State "Right-to-Farm" Law The Progressive ...Such so-called "right-to-farm" laws insulate agricultural operations -- including large industrial livestock confinement operations and, in Oregon, private timber companies -- against lawsuits as long as they're following what is (or, in some cases, may become) a "generally accepted" farming or forest practice. These can include heavy aerial pesticide applications...
U.S. Home Sales Falter as Investors Pull Back Wall Street Journal ...The decline reflected fewer purchases by investors, who helped fuel the housing-market rebound. The share of overall sales that went to investors fell to 12% last month, the lowest level since late 2009. Investors accounted for as much as 23% of sales in early 2012 as they bought up properties, many in foreclosure, at bargain prices...
Lincoln County worker killed in dump truck wreck, fire The Clarion-Ledger ...A Lincoln County road crew member was killed in what appears to be a wreck in which his dump truck left the road, hit a tree and caught on fire, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing...
Construction worker killed falling from building in Waterloo CTV News ...An 18-year-old man is dead after falling from a building at the Barrel Yards development in Waterloo...
Friday, March 21, 2014
Today's Teamster News 03.21.14
Teamster News
Striking VT Teamsters Fend Off Binding Arbitration, Enjoy Support of Local Community, Gov’t
The We Party ...In Burlington, Vermont nearly 70 bus drivers have gone on strike hoping to receive a fair contract from management. The drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 597 and work for the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA). Chittenden County is Vermont’s most populated county...
Trade
Conn. suffers losses under U.S.-Korea trade treaty Stamford Advocate ...U.S. monthly net exports to Korea of helicopters -- Connecticut's second largest export -- have plummeted 81 percent on average under the FTA...
Tech Companies Urge Senator Wyden to Reject Fast Track and Bring Transparency to TPP Electronic Frontier Foundation ...More than 25 leading technology companies have joined a public letter urging Senator Ron Wyden, the newly appointed Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to firmly oppose any form of "fast track" authority for trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
In Trade Talks, It's Countries vs. Companies Bloomberg ...to many people, arbitration looks profoundly undemocratic. Countries that sign the treaties give away a lot: The arbitration panels are unelected tribunals of three experts (usually lawyers, one chosen by each side and one picked by mutual consent or a third party) that are empowered to overrule a nation’s highest authorities. The panels have come under attack from environmental groups, labor unions, and developing nations including Venezuela, Ecuador, and South Africa....
Rights group alarmed by Colombian port killings Associated Press ... illegal armed groups have forcibly disappeared scores if not hundreds of people in Colombia's main Pacific port of Buenaventura in the past two years, killing and dismembering some in so-called "chop-up houses."… the situation is among the most alarming it has seen in years…
State Battles
New York law makes it illegal to misclassify truckers Land Line ...Employers who misclassify truckers in New York face civil and criminal penalties under a new law that takes effect April 10. Classification has ramifications not only for employee drivers but also for owner-operators and leased operators...
Judge: Arizona can require proof of citizenship from new voters Capitol Media Services ...A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Election Assistance Commission to require would-be Arizona voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register...
Governors siphoning mortgage settlement money: It's disgusting Los Angeles Times ...Gov. Jerry Brown diverted more than $350 million from California's share of the 2012 national mortgage settlement with the banking industry to reduce the state's 2013 budget deficit. A coalition of homeownership advocates and religious organizations has filed suit against the state to force Brown to restore the money...
Md. Senate chair seeks pay raise for workers who care for developmentally disabled Washington Post ...The chairman of a key Maryland Senate Committee said Wednesday that he does not plan to act on a bill to raise the minimum wage until a related issue is resolved involving the way the state reimburses workers who care for the developmentally disabled...
Michigan Plan Would Allow Students to Attend College 'For Free' Newsmax ...Students would be able to initially attend college for free under a new plan introduced recently in the Michigan Legislature, but they would have to pay for it down the road...
Pennsylvania among states to block food stamp cuts Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Pennsylvania will join more than a half-dozen states and the District of Columbia to block as much as $1.2 billion in food stamp cuts, relying on a wrinkle in federal law to preserve aid for millions of people...
Wisconsin Poised to Pass ALEC's Deadly Asbestos Bill Center for Media and Democracy ...Wisconsin could become the latest state to narrow access to the courts for asbestos victims in a bill up for a vote on March 20, joining a national coordinated effort that can be traced back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce...
Gov Haley fires back after machinists union opens office for Boeing employees WCSC News 5 ...South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley responds to a machinists union opening an office in North Charleston to educate workers at Boeing...
War on Workers
Koch Group, Spending Freely, Hones Attack on Government New York Times ...Americans for Prosperity — the group backed by David H. and Charles G. Koch that has been pouring millions of dollars into competitive Senate races...
Google Sued For Data-Mining Kids' Emails in Its Education App Alternet ...Google admitted in a sworn statement that it scans millions of students’ email messages to compile keywords for advertisements, despite not displaying any visual ads on its app...
Just 11% of US long-term unemployed find jobs Associated Press ...The number of people unemployed for more than six months has tripled since the recession began at the end of 2007...
This J.C. Penney Worker Was Fired For Telling The Truth About Its 'Fake' Prices Huffington Post ...J.C. Penney is going to war against a former employee who outed the department store for its questionable discounting practices...
Chicago voters support raising minimum wage The Chicago Reporter ...A symbolic victory on the non-binding referendum gives advocates and progressive aldermen the boost needed to press for an ordinance raising Chicago's minimum wage...
Walmart workers in China blockade store in protest at closure plan USI ...Nearly 150 workers have been picketing a Walmart store in the central Chinese city of Changde for two weeks, after management announced 4 March that the store would close down on 19 March...
Miscellaneous
New Report: Fortune 100 Companies Have Received $1.2 Trillion in Corporate Welfare Recently AlterNet ..Military contractors, oil companies and banks are the biggest 'welfare queens' around...
Starbucks to expand evening beer and wine service Guardian ...The chain first offered beer and wine after 4pm at one of its Seattle cafes in 2010. The drinks are now in about 26 cafes, with plans to reach 40 by the end of the year...
Residents Still Not Drinking Tap Water Two Months After West Virginia Spill Truthout ...It was a harsh start to 2014 for West Virginia, though in this state, events over the last two months have been only the latest twists in a long and familiar story...
NSA: Tech Companies Knew About PRISM The Whole Time Huffington Post ...Since leaked documents revealed that Internet companies like Apple, Facebook and Google were giving the National Security Agency vast access to people's online information under a scheme codenamed PRISM, those Silicon Valley titans have taken pains to deny participation in such a program. But now, the NSA's top lawyer says that just isn't true...
Bad news about American retirement McCook Daily Gazette ...How much do you have put away for retirement? A million dollars? Five hundred thousand? Five hundred dollars? If you're like a third of Americans, the final answer is closer to the truth...
Striking VT Teamsters Fend Off Binding Arbitration, Enjoy Support of Local Community, Gov’t
The We Party ...In Burlington, Vermont nearly 70 bus drivers have gone on strike hoping to receive a fair contract from management. The drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 597 and work for the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA). Chittenden County is Vermont’s most populated county...
Trade
Conn. suffers losses under U.S.-Korea trade treaty Stamford Advocate ...U.S. monthly net exports to Korea of helicopters -- Connecticut's second largest export -- have plummeted 81 percent on average under the FTA...
Tech Companies Urge Senator Wyden to Reject Fast Track and Bring Transparency to TPP Electronic Frontier Foundation ...More than 25 leading technology companies have joined a public letter urging Senator Ron Wyden, the newly appointed Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to firmly oppose any form of "fast track" authority for trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
In Trade Talks, It's Countries vs. Companies Bloomberg ...to many people, arbitration looks profoundly undemocratic. Countries that sign the treaties give away a lot: The arbitration panels are unelected tribunals of three experts (usually lawyers, one chosen by each side and one picked by mutual consent or a third party) that are empowered to overrule a nation’s highest authorities. The panels have come under attack from environmental groups, labor unions, and developing nations including Venezuela, Ecuador, and South Africa....
Rights group alarmed by Colombian port killings Associated Press ... illegal armed groups have forcibly disappeared scores if not hundreds of people in Colombia's main Pacific port of Buenaventura in the past two years, killing and dismembering some in so-called "chop-up houses."… the situation is among the most alarming it has seen in years…
State Battles
New York law makes it illegal to misclassify truckers Land Line ...Employers who misclassify truckers in New York face civil and criminal penalties under a new law that takes effect April 10. Classification has ramifications not only for employee drivers but also for owner-operators and leased operators...
Judge: Arizona can require proof of citizenship from new voters Capitol Media Services ...A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Election Assistance Commission to require would-be Arizona voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register...
Governors siphoning mortgage settlement money: It's disgusting Los Angeles Times ...Gov. Jerry Brown diverted more than $350 million from California's share of the 2012 national mortgage settlement with the banking industry to reduce the state's 2013 budget deficit. A coalition of homeownership advocates and religious organizations has filed suit against the state to force Brown to restore the money...
Md. Senate chair seeks pay raise for workers who care for developmentally disabled Washington Post ...The chairman of a key Maryland Senate Committee said Wednesday that he does not plan to act on a bill to raise the minimum wage until a related issue is resolved involving the way the state reimburses workers who care for the developmentally disabled...
Michigan Plan Would Allow Students to Attend College 'For Free' Newsmax ...Students would be able to initially attend college for free under a new plan introduced recently in the Michigan Legislature, but they would have to pay for it down the road...
Pennsylvania among states to block food stamp cuts Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Pennsylvania will join more than a half-dozen states and the District of Columbia to block as much as $1.2 billion in food stamp cuts, relying on a wrinkle in federal law to preserve aid for millions of people...
Wisconsin Poised to Pass ALEC's Deadly Asbestos Bill Center for Media and Democracy ...Wisconsin could become the latest state to narrow access to the courts for asbestos victims in a bill up for a vote on March 20, joining a national coordinated effort that can be traced back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce...
Gov Haley fires back after machinists union opens office for Boeing employees WCSC News 5 ...South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley responds to a machinists union opening an office in North Charleston to educate workers at Boeing...
War on Workers
Koch Group, Spending Freely, Hones Attack on Government New York Times ...Americans for Prosperity — the group backed by David H. and Charles G. Koch that has been pouring millions of dollars into competitive Senate races...
Google Sued For Data-Mining Kids' Emails in Its Education App Alternet ...Google admitted in a sworn statement that it scans millions of students’ email messages to compile keywords for advertisements, despite not displaying any visual ads on its app...
Just 11% of US long-term unemployed find jobs Associated Press ...The number of people unemployed for more than six months has tripled since the recession began at the end of 2007...
This J.C. Penney Worker Was Fired For Telling The Truth About Its 'Fake' Prices Huffington Post ...J.C. Penney is going to war against a former employee who outed the department store for its questionable discounting practices...
Chicago voters support raising minimum wage The Chicago Reporter ...A symbolic victory on the non-binding referendum gives advocates and progressive aldermen the boost needed to press for an ordinance raising Chicago's minimum wage...
Walmart workers in China blockade store in protest at closure plan USI ...Nearly 150 workers have been picketing a Walmart store in the central Chinese city of Changde for two weeks, after management announced 4 March that the store would close down on 19 March...
Miscellaneous
New Report: Fortune 100 Companies Have Received $1.2 Trillion in Corporate Welfare Recently AlterNet ..Military contractors, oil companies and banks are the biggest 'welfare queens' around...
Starbucks to expand evening beer and wine service Guardian ...The chain first offered beer and wine after 4pm at one of its Seattle cafes in 2010. The drinks are now in about 26 cafes, with plans to reach 40 by the end of the year...
Residents Still Not Drinking Tap Water Two Months After West Virginia Spill Truthout ...It was a harsh start to 2014 for West Virginia, though in this state, events over the last two months have been only the latest twists in a long and familiar story...
NSA: Tech Companies Knew About PRISM The Whole Time Huffington Post ...Since leaked documents revealed that Internet companies like Apple, Facebook and Google were giving the National Security Agency vast access to people's online information under a scheme codenamed PRISM, those Silicon Valley titans have taken pains to deny participation in such a program. But now, the NSA's top lawyer says that just isn't true...
Bad news about American retirement McCook Daily Gazette ...How much do you have put away for retirement? A million dollars? Five hundred thousand? Five hundred dollars? If you're like a third of Americans, the final answer is closer to the truth...
Thursday, February 20, 2014
SC guv says she wears heels to kick unions
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| Ew. |
She actually said that. She said she didn't want any auto manufacturers moving to her state if they bring unions with them.
Really.
Here's how Wonkette put it:
Governor Nikki Haley just wants to assure the people of South Carolina that they will never have to worry about high wages or job security, because those communist notions have no place in the Palmetto Bug State. After attending an automotive conference in Greenville, she told the Greenville News that she discourages companies from opening factories in South Carolina if they have any plans to allow unions, because she does not want any organized labor cooties getting on the state:
“It’s not something we want to see happen … We discourage any companies that have unions from wanting to come to South Carolina because we don’t want to take the water.”The water? Never mind. Who knows what goes on in that little head of hers. She said it's good news that unions aren't coming to her state -- good news, probably, for the billionaire sociopaths who fund her campaigns. Not so good for the people of South Carolina.
Wonkette continued:
Haley promised to keep fighting against union penetration.
“You’ve heard me say many times I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement,” she said. “It’s because we’re kicking them every day, and we’ll continue to kick them.”
It’s downright inspiring to see how far a governor will go to help bring prosperity and success to thepeoplebloated plutocrats of her state.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.10.13
The recovery: Not jobless, but full of McJobs manufacture this ...195,000 new jobs would be great if they were the kind on which you could build a recovery. But they aren’t. Roughly a third of those jobs are in the leisure and hospitality sector; another 37,000 of them are in the retail sector. And these jobs don’t pay well. In fact, they pay even less than they did only a few years ago...
Ensure that American infrastructure is repaired with American materials and by American workers. White House Petitions ...The Verrazano Bridge in New York city is going to be repaired with Steel made in China...
The secret weapon that could save the Voting Rights Act MSNBC ...Voting rights advocates are testing whether a little-used provision of the Voting Rights Act could limit the damage of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of the landmark civil rights law...
Shocker: Only 1% of So Called Terrorists Nabbed by the FBI Were Real Alternet ... there has yet to be a case of some Al-Qaeda operative providing the means for a wannabe terrorist to do an act of terrorism. It’s only the FBI that’s providing the means through these sting operations...
Walmart Threatening to Pull Plans for D.C. Stores NBC Washington ...Walmart, Inc. is threatening to pull its plans to build three urban stores in Washington, D.C. if Mayor Vincent Gray signs a new living wage bill into law that would force the large retailer to pay its employees and subcontractors at least $11.75 per hour...
Canadian train disaster sharpens debate on oil transportation Washington Post ...The railroad put the small lakeside town of Lac-Mégantic on the map. And over the weekend, the railroad wiped part of the town off the map Saturday when an oil-laden train bound for a Saint John refinery derailed and exploded, leaving at least 13 dead and dozens unaccounted for...
Unions turn up the heat on lawmakers as first furlough week arrives Huntsville Times ...A coalition of 20 unions that represents federal workers is turning up the heat on lawmakers in an effort to stave off the 20 percent pay cut that will hit Department of Defense workers in the next three months...
Anonymous Exposes US' Biggest Private Prison Company as a Bad Financial Investment Huffington Post ...The oldest and largest for-profit prison company is not what it would have you believe, at least according to Anonymous. A recently released report concludes that the publicly traded prison operator Corrections Corporation of America is not an efficient, profitable free-market solution -- but a bad investment for shareholders...
Judge Says Capitol Free Speech Restrictions “Create Extraordinary Chilling Effect” ACLU of Wisconsin ...A federal judge yesterday granted a preliminary injunction in the Capitol free speech case, allowing groups of up to 20 people to gather without a permit inside the Capitol...
Indiana working families not advancing on path to prosperity NWI Times ... nearly half of Indiana children and altogether 2.24 million Hoosiers are officially "low income" -- earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $22,980 for an individual or $47,100 for a family of four...
30,000 California prisoners refuse meals in apparent hunger strike Los Angeles Times ...Officials said 30,000 California inmates refused meals Monday at the start of a prison strike involving two-thirds of the state's 33 lockups, as well as four out-of-state facilities...
Nikki Haley Takes Heat After Report Blows Up 'Bogus' Voter Fraud Claims In South Carolina Huffington Post ...For years, South Carolina Republicans have complained about the names of dead voters being used to cast ballots in a broad voter fraud scheme. Now that a recent report by the State Law Enforcement Division has blown up those claims, unable to find a single example of a "zombie voter" committing fraud, one Democrat is demanding that Gov. Nikki Haley (R) apologize for her party's "bogus" crusade...
Local 690 Fights Hard to Win Back Public Employee’s Job IBT ...Local 690 recently came to the defense of one of its public defenders and won her reinstatement complete with back pay, benefits, and sick leave...
Arbitrator Orders DOC to Reinstate Four Monroe Correctional Employees IBT ...An arbitrator has issued a stinging rebuke to the Department of Corrections in a ruling that favors four correctional employees at the Monroe Correctional Complex, who were disciplined by the DOC after the murder of Officer Jayme Biendl in the prison chapel in January 2011...
Rural/Metro pledges to continue EMS service if strike occurs Buffalo Business First ...With a strike set to begin in a little over a week, executives at Rural/Metro Medical Services of Western New York are hoping to avoid a work stoppage but plan to continue coverage of emergency medical services...
Dignity Memorial Solicits Striking Employee To Apply For Funeral Director Job IBT ...Striking Funeral Director Lawrence Mandel was surprised that Dignity Memorial would bother offering him an “opportunity” to become a strikebreaker...
City, Teamsters Local 251 Reach Tentative Contract Deal Cranston Patch ...The city of Cranston (Rhode Island) and the Teamsters Local 251 have reached a tentative deal on a new contract that will run through 2015 and gives municipal workers raises each year...
Have you signed up for the 2013 Teamster Women's Conference yet? IBT ...There is still time left to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference, scheduled for September 19-21, 2013 in New Orleans. Join your Teamster Brothers and Sister for this dynamic gathering...
Ensure that American infrastructure is repaired with American materials and by American workers. White House Petitions ...The Verrazano Bridge in New York city is going to be repaired with Steel made in China...
The secret weapon that could save the Voting Rights Act MSNBC ...Voting rights advocates are testing whether a little-used provision of the Voting Rights Act could limit the damage of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of the landmark civil rights law...
Shocker: Only 1% of So Called Terrorists Nabbed by the FBI Were Real Alternet ... there has yet to be a case of some Al-Qaeda operative providing the means for a wannabe terrorist to do an act of terrorism. It’s only the FBI that’s providing the means through these sting operations...
Walmart Threatening to Pull Plans for D.C. Stores NBC Washington ...Walmart, Inc. is threatening to pull its plans to build three urban stores in Washington, D.C. if Mayor Vincent Gray signs a new living wage bill into law that would force the large retailer to pay its employees and subcontractors at least $11.75 per hour...
Canadian train disaster sharpens debate on oil transportation Washington Post ...The railroad put the small lakeside town of Lac-Mégantic on the map. And over the weekend, the railroad wiped part of the town off the map Saturday when an oil-laden train bound for a Saint John refinery derailed and exploded, leaving at least 13 dead and dozens unaccounted for...
Unions turn up the heat on lawmakers as first furlough week arrives Huntsville Times ...A coalition of 20 unions that represents federal workers is turning up the heat on lawmakers in an effort to stave off the 20 percent pay cut that will hit Department of Defense workers in the next three months...
Anonymous Exposes US' Biggest Private Prison Company as a Bad Financial Investment Huffington Post ...The oldest and largest for-profit prison company is not what it would have you believe, at least according to Anonymous. A recently released report concludes that the publicly traded prison operator Corrections Corporation of America is not an efficient, profitable free-market solution -- but a bad investment for shareholders...
Judge Says Capitol Free Speech Restrictions “Create Extraordinary Chilling Effect” ACLU of Wisconsin ...A federal judge yesterday granted a preliminary injunction in the Capitol free speech case, allowing groups of up to 20 people to gather without a permit inside the Capitol...
Indiana working families not advancing on path to prosperity NWI Times ... nearly half of Indiana children and altogether 2.24 million Hoosiers are officially "low income" -- earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $22,980 for an individual or $47,100 for a family of four...
30,000 California prisoners refuse meals in apparent hunger strike Los Angeles Times ...Officials said 30,000 California inmates refused meals Monday at the start of a prison strike involving two-thirds of the state's 33 lockups, as well as four out-of-state facilities...
Nikki Haley Takes Heat After Report Blows Up 'Bogus' Voter Fraud Claims In South Carolina Huffington Post ...For years, South Carolina Republicans have complained about the names of dead voters being used to cast ballots in a broad voter fraud scheme. Now that a recent report by the State Law Enforcement Division has blown up those claims, unable to find a single example of a "zombie voter" committing fraud, one Democrat is demanding that Gov. Nikki Haley (R) apologize for her party's "bogus" crusade...
Local 690 Fights Hard to Win Back Public Employee’s Job IBT ...Local 690 recently came to the defense of one of its public defenders and won her reinstatement complete with back pay, benefits, and sick leave...
Arbitrator Orders DOC to Reinstate Four Monroe Correctional Employees IBT ...An arbitrator has issued a stinging rebuke to the Department of Corrections in a ruling that favors four correctional employees at the Monroe Correctional Complex, who were disciplined by the DOC after the murder of Officer Jayme Biendl in the prison chapel in January 2011...
Rural/Metro pledges to continue EMS service if strike occurs Buffalo Business First ...With a strike set to begin in a little over a week, executives at Rural/Metro Medical Services of Western New York are hoping to avoid a work stoppage but plan to continue coverage of emergency medical services...
Dignity Memorial Solicits Striking Employee To Apply For Funeral Director Job IBT ...Striking Funeral Director Lawrence Mandel was surprised that Dignity Memorial would bother offering him an “opportunity” to become a strikebreaker...
City, Teamsters Local 251 Reach Tentative Contract Deal Cranston Patch ...The city of Cranston (Rhode Island) and the Teamsters Local 251 have reached a tentative deal on a new contract that will run through 2015 and gives municipal workers raises each year...
Have you signed up for the 2013 Teamster Women's Conference yet? IBT ...There is still time left to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference, scheduled for September 19-21, 2013 in New Orleans. Join your Teamster Brothers and Sister for this dynamic gathering...
Thursday, September 27, 2012
SC's War on Workers = 9.6% unemployment rate
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| Mismanaging SC's economy. |
About that nice manner: Haley was widely reported to have said,
There’s no secret I don’t like the unions. We are a right-to-work state. I will do everything I can to defend the fact we are a right-to-work state. We are pro-business by nature. I want us to continue being pro-business. If they don’t like what I said, I’m sorry, that’s how I feel.Charming. And guess how well her pro-business nature is working? Not so well, regardless of what those jackasses on the train think. South Carolina has the sixth worst unemployment rate in the country. Reported the Associated Press last week,
South Carolina's jobless rate held fast at 9.6 percent in August, essentially remaining the same as in July, the state Department of Employment and Workforce reported Friday.
The July rate had inched up from a 9.4 percent rate in June...
Nationally, the unemployment rate decreased from 8.3 percent in July to 8.1 percent in August...And it's no surprise that wages have gone down in South Carolina since Haley took office last year. Economy News reports,
When Haley took office average weekly pay for a SC worker was $775. The latest data from the BLS shows that 2011 third quarter average SC weekly pay is now $746. Nearly a 4% decrease in weekly wages over a year’s span.And just last week, medical device manufacturer Covidien announced it's shutting down its Seneca, S.C., plant and moving it to Costa Rica. Six hundred jobs will be lost.
Heckuva job, Nikki.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Today's Teamster News 09.19.11
SB5 sides organize saturation campaigns Youngston Vindicator ...As the multimillion dollar Senate Bill 5 campaigns ramp up, Ohioans will be bombarded with claims and counterclaims, pleas and appeals, images and sound bites...
After Gutting Their Wages, Michigan GOP Senate Leader Says He Wants To Help Teachers With Right-To-Work Law truthout ...Teachers should not fall for his rhetoric and support his attack on union rights...
Pennsylvania Turnpike toll collectors' contract expires Sept. 30 pennlive.com ...At a time when the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is studying a move toward an all-electronic toll collection system that could make the jobs of more than 700 toll collectors obsolete, the union representing those workers has a labor contract that expires Sept. 30...
Overreach doesn't fly Times-Tribune ...Now House Republicans plan to pass a bill that would strip the NLRB of its authority to bring the sort of case it has brought against Boeing. That's a bad idea...
Editorial: The GOP is using a Boeing case to antagonize organized labor stlouistoday.com ...the bill actually would put jobs at risk and leave workers exposed to punitive actions by corporations trying to avoid their legal obligations...
Nikki Haley Doubles Down On Drug Claim FitsNews.com ...S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is standing by her bizarre claim that fifty percent of recent job applicants at the Savannah River Site (SRS) failed drug tests while the other half “couldn’t read and write properly...”
After Gutting Their Wages, Michigan GOP Senate Leader Says He Wants To Help Teachers With Right-To-Work Law truthout ...Teachers should not fall for his rhetoric and support his attack on union rights...
Pennsylvania Turnpike toll collectors' contract expires Sept. 30 pennlive.com ...At a time when the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is studying a move toward an all-electronic toll collection system that could make the jobs of more than 700 toll collectors obsolete, the union representing those workers has a labor contract that expires Sept. 30...
Overreach doesn't fly Times-Tribune ...Now House Republicans plan to pass a bill that would strip the NLRB of its authority to bring the sort of case it has brought against Boeing. That's a bad idea...
Editorial: The GOP is using a Boeing case to antagonize organized labor stlouistoday.com ...the bill actually would put jobs at risk and leave workers exposed to punitive actions by corporations trying to avoid their legal obligations...
Nikki Haley Doubles Down On Drug Claim FitsNews.com ...S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is standing by her bizarre claim that fifty percent of recent job applicants at the Savannah River Site (SRS) failed drug tests while the other half “couldn’t read and write properly...”
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Today's Teamster News 09.14.11
Legislature begins fall session with arrests, heated debate WKOW.com ...After showing up for a pre-planned protest event called a "camera flash mob" in the State Assembly gallery, two people were arrested for videotaping Tuesday afternoon's session...
JobsOhio makes first big investment… in high-priced lawyers Plunderbund ... as we predicted and everyone fully expected, JobsOhio is facing legal challenges over its constitutionality...
State: Buss can't testify in prison privatization lawsuit Tallahassee Democrat ...The state does not want recently ousted Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Buss testifying in a lawsuit ... to stop privatization of prisons in South Florida...
Council May Challenge Voter ID Law Channel9News ...A new law requiring Tennessee voters to provide photo identification at the polls goes into effect next year, but the Chattanooga city council is considering a challenge to the new law...
Christie: A Koch and a smile (opinion) phillyburbs.com ...The troubling relationship between the oil billionaire Koch brothers and Gov. Chris Christie has been confirmed by the recent release of a recording of the keynote speech the governor delivered at a fundraising convention hosted by the fossil-fuel industry giants in June...
South Carolina governor faces scrutiny over trips Boston Herald ...Haley, a Tea Party-backed Republican who has decried wasteful spending since she took office this year, is fending off criticism that the trip was more of a personal vacation than an economic development mission...
Gov. Corbett, Keep Our State Parks Public (opinion) Nazareth Patch ... Gov. Tom Corbett recently told reporters that our stunning state park system tops his short list of state assets to privatize -- along with liquor stores and prisons...
Bankruptcy protection case tossed Kennebec Journal ...The largest chunk of this debt is $5.3 million for the New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund of Burlington, Mass...
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 U.S. Census Bureau ...The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2010, median household income declined, the poverty rate increased and the percentage without health insurance coverage was not statistically different from the previous year...
JobsOhio makes first big investment… in high-priced lawyers Plunderbund ... as we predicted and everyone fully expected, JobsOhio is facing legal challenges over its constitutionality...
State: Buss can't testify in prison privatization lawsuit Tallahassee Democrat ...The state does not want recently ousted Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Buss testifying in a lawsuit ... to stop privatization of prisons in South Florida...
Council May Challenge Voter ID Law Channel9News ...A new law requiring Tennessee voters to provide photo identification at the polls goes into effect next year, but the Chattanooga city council is considering a challenge to the new law...
Christie: A Koch and a smile (opinion) phillyburbs.com ...The troubling relationship between the oil billionaire Koch brothers and Gov. Chris Christie has been confirmed by the recent release of a recording of the keynote speech the governor delivered at a fundraising convention hosted by the fossil-fuel industry giants in June...
South Carolina governor faces scrutiny over trips Boston Herald ...Haley, a Tea Party-backed Republican who has decried wasteful spending since she took office this year, is fending off criticism that the trip was more of a personal vacation than an economic development mission...
Gov. Corbett, Keep Our State Parks Public (opinion) Nazareth Patch ... Gov. Tom Corbett recently told reporters that our stunning state park system tops his short list of state assets to privatize -- along with liquor stores and prisons...
Bankruptcy protection case tossed Kennebec Journal ...The largest chunk of this debt is $5.3 million for the New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund of Burlington, Mass...
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 U.S. Census Bureau ...The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2010, median household income declined, the poverty rate increased and the percentage without health insurance coverage was not statistically different from the previous year...
Friday, September 9, 2011
SC guv wants jobless to take drug test
Bloomberg reported that Haley wants to require people who've lost their jobs to take drug tests before they can get unemployment benefits:
Haley also is working out details on how the state can require drug testing for people getting unemployment benefits. Haley said half the applicants for hundreds of jobs at the Savannah River Site failed drug tests.
The company did not immediately respond to questions about the failures.
"I so want drug testing," Haley said. "It's something I've been wanting since the first day I walked into office."
South Carolina's unemployment agency has said that drugs are a minuscule factor in jobless claims. A 2009 estimate put the rate at 0.3 percent.Turns out it isn't true that half the job applicants at Savannah River failed drug tests -- not by a long, long shot.
Reports the Huffington Post,
Jim Giusti, a spokesman for the Department of Energy, which owns the River Site, told HuffPost he had no idea what Haley was talking about with regard to applicants flunking a drug test.
"Half the people who applied for a job last year or year 2009 did not fail the drug test," Giusti said. "At the peak of hiring under the Recovery Act we had less than 1 percent of those hired test positive."Gov. Pink Slip Rick Scott tried to drug test welfare recipients in Florida. That didn't work out so well. Only 2 percent failed the test and the state saved hardly any money. It will need those savings to pay for the court case defending the testing, which it will probably lose.
The River Site doesn't even test applicants. "We only test them when they have been accepted," Giusti said.
Oh, and contrary to Pink Slip Rick's claims, drug use among welfare recipients is lower than that for the general population.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Memo to Govs Gone Wild: Stop cutting
Guess what's a big drag on our economy right now? The loss of state and local jobs.
All our Governors Gone Wild have got their economics exactly backasswards. That goes for Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Chris Christie in New Jersey, John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida, Nikki Haley in South Carolina and Paul LePage in Maine.
Here's a chart that makes the point:
![]()
According to Kevin Drum at Mother Jones,
All our Governors Gone Wild have got their economics exactly backasswards. That goes for Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Chris Christie in New Jersey, John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida, Nikki Haley in South Carolina and Paul LePage in Maine.
Here's a chart that makes the point:
According to Kevin Drum at Mother Jones,
...federal employment really isn't all that important. It's been relatively flat for the past four decades, while the real action in public sector employment has mostly been at the state and local level. So when conservative politicians rail against the explosion of the federal bureaucracy, they're wrong on multiple counts. It's mostly local government jobs that have grown over the past few decades, and it's mostly local government jobs that have been lost over the past few years — and this has acted as a huge drag on the economy. If stimulus money should be going anywhere, that's where it should be going.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
What if they gave a Tea Party and nobody came?
Actually, that's what happened in South Carolina last week.
Columbia's Tea Party chairman, Allen Olson, said he expected as many as 2,000 to show up a rally last Thursday at the Statehouse because Donald Trump would be there.
The Donald stood them up, however. And The State newspaper ran a delicious photo of Nikki Haley speaking on the Statehouse steps to exactly two lonely Tea Partiers. You can see it here.
Haley, of "I don't like the unions" fame, announced to the tiny group that she was starting a "Governors Tea Party Coalition." Good luck with that.
Here's a question, though. Why did the newspaper send a photographer to a Tea Party rally where only a handful of people showed up? We saw no photos at a March 12 Statehouse rally where 2,500 people showed up to protest cuts to education and health care.
Maybe we just didn't look hard enough. Or maybe the Tea Party is just one fiction the media can't let go of.
Columbia's Tea Party chairman, Allen Olson, said he expected as many as 2,000 to show up a rally last Thursday at the Statehouse because Donald Trump would be there.
The Donald stood them up, however. And The State newspaper ran a delicious photo of Nikki Haley speaking on the Statehouse steps to exactly two lonely Tea Partiers. You can see it here.
Haley, of "I don't like the unions" fame, announced to the tiny group that she was starting a "Governors Tea Party Coalition." Good luck with that.
Here's a question, though. Why did the newspaper send a photographer to a Tea Party rally where only a handful of people showed up? We saw no photos at a March 12 Statehouse rally where 2,500 people showed up to protest cuts to education and health care.
Maybe we just didn't look hard enough. Or maybe the Tea Party is just one fiction the media can't let go of.
Friday, January 21, 2011
SC's new governor is proud to hate unions
There's no secret I don't like the unions. We are a right-to-work state. I will do everything I can to defend the fact we are a right-to-work state. We are pro-business by nature. I want us to continue to be pro-business. If they don't like what I said, I'm sorry, that's how I feel.TeamsterNation would like to remind Gov. Haley of Martin Luther King's words about right-to-work (for LESS):
In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining…. We demand this fraud be stopped.
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