Local 637 driver knows how to save a life

Steve Swonger, a bus operator and safety trainer in Licking County, Ohio, is an example of the type of excellence we celebrate in the Teamsters Union. The Local 637 member at National Express has had quite a year.

Steve Swonger

In March, Steve witnessed a pedestrian being attacked by a pit bull while on his morning route. He stopped his bus to aid the helpless pedestrian, preventing what could have been a serious, potentially life-threatening injury:

I did what anyone would have done. Some situations are beyond our control, but I've always done things for people. I was out on my route and I stopped and helped the guy.

Following the incident, Steve returned to his bus and proceeded with his route. He was featured in local media for his bravery and big heart.

Fast forward three months, to June 17, and Steve once again found himself a witness to a potentially life-threatening event – a serious auto accident involving an adult and child. Steve stopped his bus and rushed over to the driver who was not breathing:

Just like the incident with the pit bull, my first reaction was to get out of my bus and see if I can't help. I just kept telling him to breathe, to stay with me.

Thanks to Steve's quick actions, the injured driver began to breathe and Steve kept the driver conscious until the paramedics arrived. Again, Steve returned to his bus and continued on with his route. Even accounting for the time spent saving a life, he was on time with all of his pick-ups and drop-offs!:

I couldn’t believe it happened again – but then again, we are out in the community and out amongst the people. We're on the front lines. But like I said, I did what anyone else would have done.

A proud Teamster, Steve is less modest when it comes to the role of his union, boasting that thanks to the union he feels safe and secure while behind the wheel:

Having the union behind us gives us the power to secure great contracts and retain great drivers. That’s important for the entire community. I’m glad we have the Teamsters. It’s a great team and I’m lucky to be a part of it.

Today's Teamster News 02.05.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Air Canada  teamster.org   …Today, the Teamsters Union announced a tentative agreement with U.S.-based Air Canada Teamster represented employees that improves wages, benefits and job protections for the entire group...
Shuttle bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo and other tech giants to vote on unionization  Contra Costa Times Drivers employed by Compass Transportation -- which has contracts with Amtrak, Apple, eBay, Genentech, Yahoo and Zynga -- will decide whether to join the Teamsters union on Feb. 27 in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, said Rome Aloise, international vice president and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 853... Clatsop Enterprise Zone Would Offer Tax Breaks For New Investment  Daily Astorian   ...The council also approved a new three-year contract between the city and the Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Helpers Local 58 that includes 2.5 percent annual pay raises retroactive to last July...
New Pipeline Raises Concerns Near Landfill  KSDK   ...A new waste pipeline running from the troubled Bridgeton landfill is almost complete. The pipe is raising concerns that radioactive material might be pumped beneath some north St. Louis County neighborhoods...
CASA Elects Board Members  La Prensa   ...Mark Sobczak has been a member of the Teamsters Union for 35 years and served as the Teamsters Vice President. He is currently the Commissioner of Resources for the City of Toledo. He has served as a member of the Toledo-Lucas County Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Great Lakes Historical Society, and the Citizen Advisory Panel for the Toledo Refining Company...
Trade
Trade Minister Andrew Robb says Trans-Pacific Partnership deal could be struck within weeks  ABC Rural   …"The chief US trade negotiator Mike Froman, I know from personal contact with the congressmen over there, he's been keeping them abreast the whole way through. Again, there's always uncertainties, but I do feel there's every prospect that the Congress will pass it...
What the Corporate Media Aren't Telling You About the TPP  truthout   …during the 17 month period between August 2013 and February 2015, only one nightly network news show, PBS Newshour, mentioned the trade deal - and they only mentioned it just eight times. ABC, CBS, and NBC didn't mention the TPP once...
Why The Trans-Pacific Partnership Is Bad For Workers, And For Democracy (opinion)  Huffington Post   ... Economists vary widely in their assessments of the TPP, but there's general agreement across ideological stripes that tariffs are already low. In fact, some reports claim that only five of the 29 draft chapters in the agreement actually relate to lowering tariffs. The protest-worthy part of the deal regards the NBTs [non-tariff barriers to trade]--the reduction of regulatory measures, and "freeing" of market activity, in the name of standardizing rules and lowering costs...
State Battles
Right-to-work bill for construction unions passes House committee  The St. Louis American   …On Wednesday, February 4, a Missouri House of Representatives committee passed a so-called “right to work” bill for the building trades, sponsored by state Rep. Courtney Curtis – a black Democrat representing part of North St. Louis County, including Ferguson. All of the bill’s supporters were Republicans in the 8-4 vote...
Lexington Council Votes To Consider Raising Minimum Wage, 'Right-To-Work' Ordinance  Lexington Herald Leader   ...The Urban County Council could begin discussions as early as March on raising the minimum wage in Lexington and on passing an ordinance that would allow people to work in union shops without paying dues...
“Right to Work” Is the Wrong Answer for New Mexico’s Economy  Economic Policy Institute   …What RTW laws do is make it illegal for an employer and employee organization to negotiate a contract that requires every employee benefiting from the contract to pay his or her fair share of the costs of negotiating and enforcing that contract...
Martinez: Let's Stick To The Facts About "Right To Work" (opinion)  KRWG   …When I think of all the issues we face here in our state in building a healthy economy I am appalled that the Governor will be attacking our working families...
Senate committee passes bill repealing prevailing wage over labor’s objections  MetroNews   …A state Senate committee has passed legislation eliminating prevailing wage in West Virginia. The Senate Government Organization Committee room was packed and overflowing into the hallway Tuesday as lawmakers debated SB 361...
Missouri speaker bans lobbyist-funded meals in House committees  Kansas City Star   …The move shuts down a practice that has been a fixture of House committee hearings for years. And it happened amid renewed debate in both the state House and Senate over legislative ethics...
Mayor Bill De Blasio To Push For Major Minimum Wage Hike In New York City  Huffington Post   ...New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced Tuesday that he will push to have the city’s hourly minimum wage jump to $13 by next year -- a steep increase from the $8.75 an hour that the city’s lowest-paid workers currently earn...
Walker’s Wisconsin Budget Has A National Message  New York Times   ...Mr. Walker’s proposal calls for cutting about $300 million, or 13 percent, in state funds from the University of Wisconsin System, which includes 13 four-year universities and enrolls some 180,000 students. Mr. Walker’s plan would also take the unusual step of removing the university system from direct state control to a “quasi-governmental” authority that could act autonomously on issues of personnel, procurement, capital projects and tuition...
How Koch-Republican Governors Rob Pensions And Slash Wages  Politicususa   … In states like Kansas, and New Jersey, as just two examples, Republicans created revenue shortfalls due to substantial tax cuts for the rich and to fund the tax cuts refuse to make regular payments into the public employee pension funds. Underfunding, or not funding at all, pension funds is a deliberate plot to create ‘pension fund crises’ that gives Republicans a reason to cut retiree benefits under the guise of keeping the retirement fund solvent. It is worth noting again and again, taxpayers do not pay for public employees’ pensions, and the lack of a pension funds’ solvency is not because employees are not paying their fair share...
War on Workers
Wall Street Pays Bankers to Work in Government And It Doesn't Want Anyone to Know  New Republic   …itigroup is one of three Wall Street banks attempting to keep hidden their practice of paying executives multimillion-dollar awards for entering government service. In letters delivered to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last month, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley seek exemption from a shareholder proposal, filed by the AFL-CIO labor coalition, which would force them to identify all executives eligible for these financial rewards, and the specific dollar amounts at stake…
Unemployment Has Changed. Unemployment Benefits Haven’t.  FiveThirtyEight   ...Nearly 3 million Americans have been out of work for more than six months, the traditional definition of long-term unemployment. That’s down from a peak of 6.8 million in 2010, but as a share of total joblessness, long-term unemployment remains higher today than at the peak of any previous recession. Moreover, the problem appears to be at least partially structural: The amount of time the typical person remains out of work has been trending upward for decades...
Robot Cars Won’t Rescue Uber From Its Clash With Drivers (opinion)  Wired   ...Uber released a survey recently that found most of its drivers were happy, but enough of them are unhappy enough to sue. At least until robot cars hit the roads en masse, Uber will have to figure out a way to keep the drivers on which its business depends. Or else the courts will...
Worker Killed In Backhoe Accident At Texarkana Jobsite  Tyler Morning Telegraph   ...A construction worker has been killed in a backhoe accident at a jobsite in Northeast Texas...
Miscellaneous
Metro-North Service Resumes Amid Investigation Into Deadly Collision  ABC News   …Metro-North train service resumed this morning at the site of Tuesday’s deadly collision between an SUV and passenger train, an accident that killed the SUV’s driver and five passengers...
Extreme cold, ice reveal faults in U.S. northeast mass transit  Reuters   …Wicked winter weather gripping the northeastern United States exposed weaknesses in mass transit systems from Boston to New York, with commuters stranded on icy train platforms amid delays stretching into Tuesday...

Today's Teamster News 07.28.14

Trade
Report: Germany To Reject EU-Canada Trade Deal  Globe and Mail   ...Germany is to reject a multi-billion free trade deal between the European Union and Canada which is widely seen as a template for a bigger agreement with the United States, a leading German paper reported on Saturday. Citing diplomats in Brussels, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Berlin objects to clauses outlining the legal protection offered to firms investing in the 28-member bloc. Critics say they could allow investors to stop or reverse laws...
Apocalypse Preview: Chinese River Turns Blood-Red  zero hedge   ...An inner city waterway in the eastern city of Wenzhou was found to have been inundated by an influx of blood-red water this morning...
The Factory in the China Food Scandal Is Foreign-Owned. That Could Have Made It a Target  Time   ...An undercover investigation by a Chinese TV station, which aired on Sunday, claimed that a factory in Shanghai owned by Illinois-based OSI Group was shipping the fast-food giants expired meat. Later, coffee-shop chain Starbucks in China and McDonald’s outlets in Japan got dragged into the mess, as they, too, had meat from the suspect factory in their products...
State Battles
Ohio Has Lost 25,000 Local Government Jobs Under John Kasich  Plunderbund   ...Ohio has seen “nearly 25,000 jobs lost in local government” since John Kasich has been governor of Ohio.  And “median incomes in Ohio have fallen about $7,000 over the past decade...”
City seeks $2M from unions  Racine Journal Times   ...Looking for help to close a projected a $4.6 million deficit next year, administration officials at City Hall are seeking $2 million in concessions from police and fire unions...
War on Workers
Steel jobs have plummeted by a third since 2000  NWI Times   ...Northwest Indiana's steel industry, which once drew immigrants from the world over and put bread on many tables for generations, has lost a third of its jobs since 2000...
Corporate Artful Dodgers (opinion)  New York Times   ...The federal government still gets a tenth of its revenue from corporate profits taxation. But it used to get a lot more — a third of revenue came from profits taxes in the early 1950s, a quarter or more well into the 1960s...
World of Resistance Report: IMF, World Bank, Giant Consultants Admit the Storm is Coming  truthout   ...three issues are prevalent in terms of assessing the fears and threats facing the global elite: 1) growing inequality, 2) decline of public trust in institutions of all kinds, and 3) the resulting social unrest...
Financial Predators Move On From Foreclosure Rescue, Enter Student Debt, Military Lending Spaces  naked capitalism   ... These scams are basically all the same: empty promises about obtaining a modification in exchange for up-front cash, with all the promises broken down the road. In this case, the offending parties happen to be law firms, who made the impression on the victims that they would provide legal representation in securing a modification...
Mike Mathieu: Big Data is Watching You  Next New Deal   ...In a darker turn, we begin to see a loss of human freedoms as behavior is increasingly predicted, tracked, and incentivized according to data models...
NSA Helps Crush Dissent at Home and Abroad  Washington Blog   ...The National Security Agency last year significantly expanded its cooperative relationship with the Saudi Ministry of Interior, one of the world’s most repressive and abusive government agencies. An April 2013 top secret memo provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden details the agency’s plans “to provide direct analytic and technical support” to the Saudis on “internal security” matters...
Auto shop worker killed when car falls on him  WIVB   ...The accident happened Friday afternoon at Yuya Complete Auto Repair on Skillen Street in Buffalo...
Miscellaneous
Outside money drives a deluge of political ads  New York Times   ... An explosion of spending on political advertising on television — set to break $2 billion in congressional races, with overall spots up nearly 70 percent since the 2010 midterm election — is accelerating the rise of moneyed interests and wresting control from the candidates’ own efforts to reach voters...  

Ohio workers gear up to elect friend of labor, Ed Fitzgerald, as governor

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is up for re-election in Ohio this November, and Teamsters aren't about to forget SB5, Kasich's attempt to destroy government-worker unions.

In 2011, the Ohio Legislature passed SB 5, but a historic campaign succeeded in overturning the anti-worker law.

Now working people in Ohio are gearing up to send Kasich packing despite the vast amounts of Koch-linked campaign money he'll have available to him.

The AFL-CIO just posted this video (above) to kick off the campaign:

In its most targeted Ohio political program to date, the AFL-CIO program of voter education and voter turnout will be broad in its scope. In addition to its traditional labor-to-labor outreach, the AFL-CIO programs will be geared toward all middle-class Ohioans, regardless of union membership, as the organization seeks to educate voters on the economic issues central to the debate in the election. Together with its community-based affiliate Working America, the Ohio AFL-CIO has a traditional universe of more than 1 million voters in Ohio. 

The Labor 2014 operation in Ohio will involve more than 35,000 volunteer shifts that will cover all aspects of the campaign, including voter registration, voter education and voter turnout. The effort is to include an unprecedented level of more than 2 million combined door knocks, phone dials and leaflets distributed at worksites and millions of additional voter contacts through direct mail and electronic and social media.

(Look for our brother Matt Ford, political coordinator for Teamsters Local 507 at about 1:36.).

Mega-rich take aim at the states for 2014

Not just Ohio...

Billionaire sociopaths like the Koch brothers are gearing up for another attack on the middle class this year through their allies in state legislatures. Right-to-work-for-less is on their agenda in at least three states -- Missouri, Oregon and Ohio -- along with a panoply of anti-worker initiatives in others.

The Kochs and their friends have bags of money, they are ruthless and they lie.

This is how well-funded they are: Last year alone they spent $400 million on politics, as much as the entire labor movement, reported the Washington Post today:

The political network spearheaded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors, according to an analysis of new tax returns and other documents. 

The filings show that the network of politically active nonprofit groups backed by the Kochs and fellow donors in the 2012 elections financially outpaced other independent groups on the right and, on its own, matched the long-established national coalition of labor unions that serves as one of the biggest sources of support for Democrats. 

The Post, as usual, makes the mistake of claiming the Kochs are against 'government overreach.' They aren't. They're quite happy with government overreach if they think it helps them.

Right-to-work-for-less laws  force unions to represent workers who refuse to pay the cost of that representation. If that isn't government overreach, we don't know what is.

Now that the new year is here, lawmakers are returning to state capitals and the Koch stooges among them are repeating the Kochs' lies. In Missouri, House Speaker Tim Jones repeated the tired old lie that right-to-work-for-less will make the state competitive with its neighbors. (Though you could argue that's true if  'competitive' means 'competitive in a race to the bottom.')

In Missouri, Ohio and Oregon, the Kochs' patsies want to put right-to-work-for-less on the ballot. They're up to no good in other states as well. In Florida, for example, the Sun-Sentinel is warning against their machinations:

2014 is a make-it-or-break-it year for the Kochs, JMI, FGA, ALEC and whatever new, cozy-sounding names and acronyms they concoct to hide the fact that they're out to take over the country. Somewhere, some Koch-financed group is plotting — and laughing at how easy it is to get most Americans to vote against their own self-interest. With tragic consequences, some people who've made a few bucks regurgitate the garbage of the mega-rich, fantasizing they are one of them and that they're accepted members of the club.

A terrific editorial in the Salem, Ore., Statesman-Journal, describes how the Kochs took aim at Oregon:

Our sense is that it is almost as if a big red X has been affixed to a map of our state by outside influences who have decided in secret that we are to be the next target in their misinformation campaign. Chief among the groups is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an unchecked conservative policy organization bent on convincing more states to enact right-to-work laws, using whatever-it-takes tactics. 

In the months to come, you should expect to hear bloated claims about the positive effects that right-to-work laws have had on state economies. The sad truth is that workers actually reap fewer gains when right-to-work laws are enacted and new businesses are lured to states. The big gains are raked in by the very corporations supporting the greedy goals that ALEC members pledge to support.

We couldn't agree more with their conclusion:

The misinformation campaign is coming, but it does not have to succeed. 

Right-to-work proponents are expecting you to roll over and play dumb. 

We suggest you sit up and become informed.

To sit up and become informed -- and to find out what you can do to help fight the battle over right-to-work-for-less -- check in with these Facebook pages: Oregon AFL-CIO,  We Are Ohio and Stop Right To Work (for less) in Missouri.

Today's Teamster News 10.30.13

Newsday drives off with new union pact  New York Post   ...Just two weeks after rejecting a new labor contract, workers, who are members of the IBT/Graphic Communications Conference at Newsday, ratified the same pact that cuts 25 driver jobs but hikes pay for the remaining workers by 6 percent over four years...
Grocery worker contract vote begins Tuesday  KIRO TV   ...Voting on the proposed contract will take place at several locations Tuesday and Wednesday for the unionized grocery workers, including members of Teamsters Local 38...
YRC requests meeting with Teamsters for company update   Kansas City Business Journal ...YRC Worldwide Inc. is calling its members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to Dallas to talk about the company's future...
UPS TCI Supplement Passes   teamster.org   ...The UPS TCI Supplement has passed by a vote of 87 to 12. That brings the total number of revoted local supplements and riders that have been approved by members to seven...
Rail optimistic on union deal as strike deadline nears  Reuters   ...Canadian National Railway Co., the country's largest railroad, said on Monday it is still talking with the union representing about 3,300 conductors and other workers and expects the two sides will be able to avoid a strike...
U.S. sham corporations aid drug lords  CNN   ... the Russian "Merchant of Death" Victor Bout used a global network of shell companies to move the funds of his international outfit, which authorities say provided weapons used to fuel conflicts throughout Africa, South America and the Middle East. At least 12 shell companies in Texas, Florida and Delaware have been linked to him...
Dutch Rabobank fined $1 billion over Libor scandal  Reuters   ...U.S. and European regulators have fined Dutch lender Rabobank $1 billion for rigging benchmark interest rates, making it the fifth bank punished in a scandal that has helped to shred faith in the industry...
'We got away with murder': £2.2m avoidance boast of Gordon Ramsay's tax expert in leaked memo  Daily Mail   ...Gordon Ramsay ‘really got away with murder’ as his company hid ‘incriminating evidence’ of alleged fraud from the taxman, a leaked memo claims...
The Coming Food Stamp Cut Will Hit 900,000 Veterans  ThinkProgress   ...Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, will automatically drop come Friday thanks to the loss of additional funds from the 2009 stimulus bill. That cut will hit about 900,000 of the country’s veterans...
Senate OKs Obama pick for NLRB general counsel  The Guardian   ...Senators voted 62-37 Tuesday to end Republican delaying tactics against Richard Griffin, who Obama nominated to be NLRB general counsel...The general counsel investigates and prosecutes cases before the board. Griffin is a Democrat and long-time labor lawyer...
Another View: Americans' appetite for Amtrak service growing (opinion)  Des Moines Register   ...On the heaviest traveled passenger rail corridor in the nation, the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak keeps breaking ridership records...
Municipal workers, nurses, pensioners protest against austerity  Cyprus Mail   ...Tuesday, in the Republic of Cyprus, was a day of protests outside parliament and the finance ministry as nurses, pensioners and municipality workers all gathered to voice their discontent at government imposed cuts. Municipality workers from trade unions PEO and DEOK went on strike for four hours to protest against a further 12 per cent cut to state funding for 2014...
8 Scary Facts About The Trans-Pacific Partnership   BuzzFeed   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is a massive, secret trade agreement being negotiated behind the backs of Congress and the American people...
Brunei Sultan Raises More Worries About TPP   teamster.org   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has rightfully come under fire for its potential to make things worse for workers and consumers both in the U.S. and the 11 other countries which are currently involved in negotiations...
Snyder rejected pension fund conditions  Detroit News   ...Gov. Rick Snyder’s testimony Monday in Detroit's historic Chapter 9 case marked a dramatic turn, featuring a sitting governor forced to defend a series of decisions likely to set a national precedent for union protections and pension rights in municipal bankruptcy...
Republican Says He'd Bring Back Slavery If His Constituents Asked Him To  AlterNet   ...A Nevada Republican sparked outrage after he told members of the GOP that he’d bring back slavery if that’s what his constituents wanted...
More follies from the Kasich circus! Toledo Blade   ...A Blade investigation of Ohio’s taxpayer-funded job-creation efforts discovered that businesses did not create thousands of jobs that state documents said they did. The probe also revealed that Ohio development officials awarded tens of millions of dollars to companies they knew little about. Much of that money is now lost...
Gov. Walker says he cannot yet comment on alleged discrepancies in his book  WKOW   ...Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) says he cannot yet comment on alleged discrepancies between what is reportedly published in his upcoming book and the recording of a phone conversation he had with a blogger posing as billionaire Republican donor David Koch on February 22, 2011...

Today's Teamster News 10.08.13

Wegmans, teamsters back in talks   City Newspaper   ...Wegmans and representatives of Teamsters Local 118 are set to resume contract negotiations on Friday...
Hernando County, Teamsters, tentatively agree to 3 percent raise  Tampa Bay Times   ...Hernando County employees represented by the Teamsters Union settled Monday on a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase, their first since 2007...
The “Debt Ceiling” Smokescreen  Counterpunch   ...The media is ratcheting up “debt ceiling” hysteria to launch a surprise attack on Social Security and Medicare...
Democrats and Republicans Pedal to the Metal in Debt Ceiling/Shutdown Game of Chicken  naked capitalism   ...Norquist has been making the rounds trying to give everyone, meaning those Democrats who need to get the message that they need to whack all sorts of spending, especially Medicare and Social Security, the outlines of where Republicans think a budget deal lies...
U.S. trade official says to seek TPP deal by year-end  Reuters   ...The United States maintained it hopes to seal an ambitious trade pact on schedule by year-end despite resistance in some countries and the absence of President Barack Obama from a regional summit that is ironing out differences on the pact...
Rich People Just Care Less (opinion)  New York Times   ...A growing body of recent research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power...
8 states where student debt is out of control  USA Today   ...The surprising top of the list goes to New Hampshire, which, with a whopping average debt of $32,440 for graduates running a loan tab, comes in at nearly $2,500 more than its nearest competitor...
Enron billionaire expands craven plot to abuse workers  Salon   ...the word “reform,” is now the preferred euphemism for “rip-off scheme.” In the context of pensions, it means pleading poverty to justify cuts to public employees guaranteed retirement income, all while preserving massive corporate welfare and, in many cases, funneling pension cash to Wall Street hedge fund managers...
'Why Isn't Poverty Falling? Weakening of Unemployment Insurance Is a Pivotal Factor'  Economist's View   ...One key reason why poverty has remained virtually frozen despite continued economic growth is the weakening of unemployment insurance...
Wind turbine blade manufacturer adds U.S. production and jobs  Salon   ... Big turbine blade manufacturer LM Wind Power put out word that it is “adding more than 850 jobs to support increased volumes from major customers” in the United States...
At a Nissan Plant in Mississippi, a Battle to Shape the U.A.W.’s Future  New York Times   ...It has enlisted thousands of union members in Brazil to picket Nissan dealerships there as the company prepares to co-sponsor the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The union has sent a team of Mississippi ministers and workers to South Africa, where Nissan has an assembly plant, to try to embarrass the company with accusations that it violates workers’ rights at the Canton plant...
NYC Bridge and Tunnel Bosses Won’t Budge on Foreign Steel  Portside   ...New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority refused to change its plans to spend $34 million on Chinese steel to repair the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge...
America's police are looking more and more like the military (opinion)  The Guardian   ... Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, donated by the US Defense Department to the county sheriff...
Near-destitute woman unable to buy €1.20 bus ticket now told to pay €720 penalty  ENet English   ...A woman who was caught earlier this year travelling on an Athens bus without the required €1.20 ticket and who was unable to pay the €72 fine has been told she is now liable for a €720 penalty at her local tax office, in a move that has been described as a "gratuitous blow" by the country's most prominent voluntary health clinic...
Eastern Ohio legislators push for restoration of Homestead Exemption  Youngstown Vindicator   ...Starting in 2007, under Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, everyone 65 and over and permanently disabled Ohioans qualified for the exemption, which saves them about $400 per year on their property taxes...

Today's Teamster News 09.02.13

Labor Economics 101: Few Jobs Means Bad Jobs  Center for Economics and Policy Research   ...because the economy is not generating decent jobs in any reasonable number, workers are forced to take bad jobs...
Calls to raise minimum wage return with Labor Day  Associated Press   ...A recurring call to raise the minimum wage has returned in the run-up to Labor Day in the form of national rallies and a new report that finds Michigan ranks second-to-worst among states for wage growth during the past 30 years...
The Battle for a Living Wage Goes On  naked capitalism   ...The battle for a living wage for the nation’s poorest workers is set against the backdrop of mass unemployment and the highest level of economic inequality in the U.S. in almost a century...
10 fastest-growing jobs in the USA  USA Today   ...For both petroleum engineers and service unit operators in the resource industry, the nation's two fastest-growing jobs, growth likely is due largely to changes in the energy sector...

The 7 Best Paying Jobs With Only High School Diploma  24/7 Wall Street   ...Subway and streetcar conductors, fashion designers, power distributors and dispatchers...
Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs: Report  Huffington Post   ...More than one-third of the nation's highest-paid CEOs from the past two decades led companies that were subsidized by American taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank...
The Hazard of Free-Trade Tobacco  New York Times   ...Give thanks to Malaysia for heading off, at least temporarily, an American effort to weaken the ability of countries to impose stiff rules on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products within their own borders...
Eurozone unemployment steady at 12.1% in July - as it happened  The Guardian   ...Eurozone figures show youth unemployment edging higher...
Federal Court Sides With ACLU in No Fly List Lawsuit  ACLU   ...The suit challenges the process for attempting to get off the list as unfair, inadequate, and unconstitutional. The decision also asked the ACLU and the government to submit additional information about the No Fly List redress procedure in order to help the court decide the ultimate question of whether it satisfies the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process...
State budget is gold mine for rich, shaft for all others (opinion)  Toledo Blade   ...the richest one percent of Ohioans will net a yearly tax cut of nearly $6,000, Middle class taxpayers who earn $51,000 will see a whopping cut of $9. And some of the poorest Ohioans will see their taxes go up...
Floridians finding jobs, but often at low wages  Sun-Sentinel   ...wages are stagnant or dropping, except for the top 10 percent of households, while health-care and other costs are rising...

Today's Teamster News 08.11.13

U.S. Companies Thrive as Workers Fall Behind  New York Times   ...AMERICAN companies are more profitable than ever — and more profitable than we thought they were before the government revised the national income accounts last week. Wage earners are making less than we thought...
Hidden Billionaire Cohen Hauls Fortune in Unmarked Trucks  Bloomberg   ...The 61-year-old -- who goes by “Rick” -- has transformed C&S into the world’s largest grocery wholesaler since taking the helm of the business in 1989, making him one of the 100 richest people in the world and the wealthiest man in New England...
My ALEC Diary  The Progressive   ...As keynote speaker Stephen Moore, founder of the Club for Growth and writer for the Wall Street Journal, stated, “What we really need is more rich people,” regardless of the cost to everyone else...
Walmart’s big lie: No, it doesn’t create jobs!  Salon   ...Research shows that destroying jobs is an essential component of the retail giant’s anti-worker business model...
Fast Food Wage War: Thousands of Protests Coming This Year, Says Movement Leader  Yahoo Finance   ...there's little doubt that there will be a fourth effort to get to $15 an hour, and probably a fifth and sixth attempt too, as Fast Food Forward pushes for better wages and benefits, as well as the right to organize...
Myth and Reality: The Low-Wage Job Machine  Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta   ... the growing wage disparity is a trend, not a unique feature of the postcrisis period...
America's Most Dangerous Bridges  Travel and Leisure   ...One thing these bridges have in common, whether in Oregon or Louisiana, is age. All are more than 45 years old, and they’ve got company nationwide. Many structures from the bridge-building boom of the 1950s were designed for a 50-year lifespan, Leshko says. “When you do the math, you can see why we are where we are...”
Why I changed my mind on weed  CNN   ...It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works...
State finds ‘manipulation’ of school grading formula  Post-Tribune   ...State education officials have discovered “manipulation” in the state’s school grading formula as part of an ongoing review following the grade-changing scandal which cost education star Tony Bennett his job as Florida schools chief...
Fight For Paid Sick Leave Starts In Massachusetts  ThinkProgress   ...Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of labor, religious, and community groups, filed a proposed ballot question that would guarantee that the state’s workers have access to paid sick leave...
Tax cut’s job creation questioned  Columbus Dispatch   ...From June 2005 through June 2013, a span that included a 21 percent state income-tax cut, Ohio saw a 3.9 percent drop in jobs, ranking 47th nationally in job creation...

Today's Teamster News 07.21.13

Port truckers for Carteret firm vote to join the Teamsters  Newark Star Ledger   ...More than 100 port truck drivers who work in Carteret for an Australian-based global logistics firm have voted to join the Teamsters, the union said today...
Ohio ranked second in nation for most jobs lost in June: state's unemployment rate up to 7.2%  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...Ohio lost the second highest number of jobs in the country in June, just a month after posting the largest job gains, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday...
Moral Monday critics blinded by their own propaganda (opinion)  The Durham News   ...Like old Soviet-era Stalinists and modern religious theocrats they find it impossible to acknowledge the simple truth that’s painted in living color right before their eyes – namely, that millions of North Carolinians are not buying the snake oil they and their allies are selling and do not want to see the clock of state turned back a half-century or more...
Detroit’s Creditors Eye Its Art Collection  New York Times   ...As Detroit files for bankruptcy — the largest American city ever to do so — the impressive collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts has become a political bargaining chip in a fight that could drag on for years between the city and its army of creditors, who have said in no uncertain terms that the artworks must be considered a salable asset...
Unfunded Pension Liabilities Are $1 Trillion, Not $3.8 Trillion: Never Take Anything In a Washington Post Editorial At Face Value  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...the unfunded liabilities (for state and local public sector pensions) are 0.22 percent of projected GDP over the next 30 years. And ... most state and local governments are already funding at levels that are consistent with making up this shortfall so there will no required tax increases or spending cuts to meet these future obligations...
How Goldman Made $5 Billion By Manipulating Aluminum Inventories (and Copper Is Up Next)  naked capitalism   ...Goldman and its speculator allies manipulate prices … This is simply another form of looting...
'Is there no limit to what this Government will privatise?': UK plasma supplier sold to US private equity firm Bain Capital  The Independent   ...The Government was tonight accused of gambling with the UK’s blood supply by selling the state-owned NHS plasma supplier to a US private equity firm...
NSA Spokesman Accidentally Admits that the Government Is Spying On Virtually All Americans  Washington's Blog   ...Given that there are now approximately 875,000 people in the government’s database of suspected terrorists – including many thousands of Americans – every single American living on U.S. soil could easily be caught up in the dragnet...
Public Cops for Private Kochs  NSFWCORP   ...police and private security formed a better ring of defense around the ALEC conference than what the CIA compound had in Benghazi...
TAFTA: Corporations Express Fear of Democracy  Public Citizen   ...The Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) negotiations have only just begun, but already hundreds of corporations are weighing in to let negotiators know what they hope to get out of the agreement...

Woot! No Rights At Work tabled in OH

This just in: No Rights at Work legislation was put on hold today in Ohio, according to the chairman of the House Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee.

Two bills were heard in committee today before a packed room of labor supporters. According to Ohio House Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard, who supported the workers:

Hundreds descended on the Ohio Statehouse today as HJR 5 and HB 151 received their first hearing in the House Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee. HB 151 is a bill that would hurt private sector employee’s ability to collectively bargain, and HJR 5 is a resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to make Ohio a so-called “right to work” state.

Committee Chairman Rep. Kirk Schuring said the decision was unanimous to table the measure:

I’ve surveyed the committee and for a wide variety of reasons, the committee has determined that it would not be appropriate to have additional hearings on the legislation.

It's a sweet victory for now, but anti-worker extremists will not stop in their efforts to weaken workers' rights. We can expect No Rights at Work to rear its deceptive head in Ohio again in 2014 or 2015.

And remember, No Rights at Work wasn't on the agenda in Michigan last year ... until it suddenly was -- and rammed through the Legislature in a lame-duck session.

We must be ever vigilant.

No Rights At Work fight comes to Ohio

No Rights At Work is rearing its deceitful head in Ohio tomorrow. The Ohio House Manufacturing Committee will hold a hearing allowing the sponsors of Right to Work legislation to testify. There is not only a bill, HB 151, but a ballot proposal as well.

Sadly, some people will be fooled by the false promise of "worker freedom." But Right to Work means less freedom for workers – much less.

It puts more pressure on struggling working-class families. It eliminates job security. It lowers pay. It forces workers from full-time jobs to part-time. It gives workers less freedom and flexibility to spend time with their family or do whatever is important to them in life.

Ohioans, your help is urgently needed to stop this anti-worker, anti-freedom proposal. Please send an e-mail to your state representative today. Just click here.

Fortunately, plenty of our union brothers and sisters see right through the Right to Work lie. Here's a sample of comments from the Teamsters Facebook page:

Linda McAteer

I live in a "right to work state," don't be fooled, it translate to "right to work and starve in the dark" state

Jackie Beaulieu

The conservative movement uses all kinds of patriotic-sounding names to make taking away your rights sound wonderful. Unfortunately, what's lurking behind the name will always leave you much worse off if you are foolish enough to buy into it.

John Wayne Miller

right to work is a gimmick to keep you the worker poor and quiet and like a little lamb! all the while the top people get richer off your back! right to work is wrong and should be illegal!

Michael Olszewski

Check the pay and benefits of workers in a so called right to work state and you will see it is bullshit.!!!!

Frank Di Lisio

I worked in Texas, a RTW state. The boss could at any time, say to me, "Hey! You are a top employee, doing a terrific job. Oh, BTW, YOU'RE FIRED!!!! THAT is a RTW state !

Martha Steele Brett

Right-to-work means you pay the dues and the scabs (usually quota hires), who don't, get the exact same union representation (including pension) that you're working for.

Remember to email your representative today. Just click here.

Today's Teamster News 05.07.13

Austerity Has Cost The U.S. Economy 2.2 Million Jobs: Study  Huffington Post   ...There are more than 2 million unemployed Americans who might have jobs today if not for austerity...
Across The Country, Renters Are Getting Crushed By Housing Costs  Business Insider   ...In the grand scheme of personal finances, your take home pay is like an apple pie. Your bills are the hungry flock of kids banging their fists on the table to get their share. For renters in America, housing is usually the hungriest of the bunch...
Unemployment Benefit Cut Adds to Drag on U.S. Spending: Economy  Bloomberg News   ...Dentral Smith had to say no when her granddaughter asked for a treat on the way home from school. The government’s cut in unemployment payments leaves her with less spending money...
Online sales tax bill seen stalling in House  Chicago Tribune   ...Observers expect legislation that would give power to U.S. states to collect sales tax from online purchases will stall in the House. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Monday although it has little chance of survival in the House, controlled by Republicans highly opposed to new taxes...
Koch Brothers Bought America's Universities, Now the Billionaires Want to Buy Our Free Press (opinion)   Huffington Post   ...The conservative oil tycoon billionaires, Koch Brothers, are after our free press and the newspapers that could serve as a broader platform for their conservative ideology. Newspapers provide our country with information and coverage that is essential for democracy. This is not a business investment for the billionaire brothers...
N.Y. to sue Bank of America, Wells Fargo over alleged violations of mortgage deal Washington Post   ...New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Monday he intends to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failing to help struggling homeowners under the $25 billion national mortgage settlement...
Wisconsin Bill Would Treat Organic Milk, Sharp Cheddar, Brown Eggs as "Junk Food"  PRWatch   ...Wisconsin ranks 44th in the nation for new job creation. Rather than rolling up their sleeves and finding new and innovative ways to help create jobs, the Wisconsin legislature is spending its time telling people needing food assistance what they should be eating...
Illinois Constitution may impede pension reform effort  Reuters   ...A House-backed plan to repair Illinois' underfunded pension system, that would increase employee contributions while reducing benefits, may face a Constitutional challenge...
Sanford, Colbert Busch Poll Shows South Carolina Candidates In Tight Race  Huffington Post    ...Days ahead of Tuesday's special election for South Carolina's open congressional seat, a new poll shows former Gov. Mark Sanford (R) gaining momentum on Democratic rival Elizabeth Colbert Busch, erasing the strong lead she posted in a previous poll...
Chris Christie rakes in $6.2 million  Politico   ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has raised just under $6.2 million for his reelection bid, his campaign announced Monday...
Despite reluctant GOP surrender, unions vow to fight Right to Work in Ohio   PR NewsChannel …Two bills that could’ve made Ohio a right-to-work state in both the public and private sectors were stalled in the legislature just hours after they were introduced. Now hundreds of thousands of union workers in the state, many of whom have watched Michigan’s struggles, are being urged to view these recent developments as a wakeup call despite the outcome…
Hoffa: ALEC's War on Workers  Huffington Post   ...Corporations are upping the ante in their attempt to take control of the political process. Under the guise of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's most powerful are drafting legislation that is appearing in statehouses across the country. And the target is not just union members, but the entire middle class...
Massachusetts Firefighters Join Teamsters Local 170  IBT   ...They put their own lives at risk to protect the citizens of Webster, Mass. Now, the 41 part-time firefighters with the Webster Fire Department have their own protection—Teamster representation...
Video: Equal pay issue earns Teamster support for Staten Island City Council candidate Mendy Mirocznik  Staten Island Live   ...For his vocal support of what he called "equal pay for equal work," Democratic Mid-Island City Council Candidate Mendy Mirocznik Monday earned the endorsement of Teamsters 237, which represents school safety agents...

New Ohio right-to-work bills get the cold shoulder

Who supports the “right-to-work” legislation unveiled in Ohio last week? Pretty much no one.

State Senate GOP leaders almost immediately pronounced the two separate right-to-work bills dead on arrival, saying they had no intention of wading in the anti-worker cesspool again. Less than two years ago Ohio voters overturned a right-to-work bill, SB 5, approved by legislators and signed by Gov. John Kasich (R).

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported:

Senate President Keith Faber, of Celina, said in a statement … that the Senate's "ambitious" agenda is focused on jobs and economy, but not right to work legislation. "After discussions with other leaders and my caucus, I don't believe there is current support for this issue in the General Assembly," Faber said. 

And House Democrats, in the same article, agreed:

"This legislation is worse than Senate Bill 5," Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard, of Columbus, said. "It's not about making workers free. It's about taking their rights." 

Gov. Kasich, through a spokesman, already made it clear last week that he would not be supporting the measures put forward by Reps. Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson). Rep. Maag’s bill would apply to public employees, while Rep. Roegner’s measure would apply to the private sector.

Outside the state capital, the views were the same. The Toledo Blade, in an excellent staff editorial printed Sunday, chastised the effort to bring up such legislation again:

One of every eight Ohio workers belongs to a union—a share higher than the national rate. And despite assertions that right-to-work laws promote employment, Ohio’s jobless rate remains below the national average.

Nearly half the states—including, most recently, Michigan and Indiana—have right-to-work laws. Supporters say they make states more attractive to employers. But the greater weight of evidence suggests that such laws help depress wages, encourage employers not to offer health and retirement benefits, deny rather than promote workers’ rights, and aggravate income inequality.

Allowing workers to become free riders who need not pay for the wages, benefits, and workplace standards that union representation brings them will discourage union membership. That will tilt the labor-management dynamic in favor of employers, and threaten to roll back the gains achieved for workers through collective bargaining.

We laud all these voices for realizing what Ohio voters have known all along—right-to-work laws do nothing to help employees. Stand strong, Ohio!

Here we go again: Ohio lawmakers make another attempt to strip workers of their rights

Two Ohio state lawmakers are taking another crack at limiting workers’ right to organize and stand up for fair wages and safe working conditions. Bills set to be unveiled today by Reps. Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) come two years after voters rose up and defeated a similar effort supported by Gov. John Kasich (R). These lawmakers are sure to meet their match in Ohio, one of the most pro-labor states in the nation.

This time around, proponents seek to weaken the rights of employees through two different pieces of legislation. Rep. Maag’s bill would apply to public employees, while Rep. Roegner’s measure would apply to the private sector. While both claim the "right-to-work" legislation would create new jobs, the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that economists and academics give little credence to that view.

Explaining the union-haters’ strategy, the newspaper states:

Introducing two bills would allow Republicans a chance for at least a partial victory. If right-to-work for private sector workers proves unpopular, Republicans might push through a public sector law by capitalizing on resentment from voters whose wages and benefits were cut in the recession.

As it stands, however, Kasich is steering clear of the effort. Per the Columbus Dispatch:

In November 2011, voters overwhelmingly rejected Republicans’ effort to sharply limit collective bargaining for public employees by overturning Senate Bill 5—a referendum that might still have political ramifications for Gov. John Kasich.

Kasich has since refused to support any right-to-work efforts in Ohio—a bid to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot is proceeding slowly—and Democrats were quick to pounce on news of the new bills. But Kasich wouldn’t commit one way or the other on the latest GOP effort.

"There have been 300 bills introduced so far this year," said Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman. "We don’t weigh in on all of them, and it would be premature to do so on these...The governor has a big agenda that’s moving through the legislature, and he continues to work on it."

Ohio Democrats, however, are vowing to fight the effort, the Enquirer reports.

"Here we go again," said state Democratic chairman Chris Redfern, comparing right-to-work to the failed attempt to ban collective bargaining in 2011. "We expect this unnecessary sideshow—which will do nothing to create more good-paying jobs—to fail." 

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters urges all of its Ohio brothers and sisters as well as other union members in the state to contact their lawmakers now and tell them to defeat both bills. Also let Gov. Kasich know that you don’t want this legislation to be enacted. Let these anti-worker lawmakers know that they can’t mess with Ohio!

Teamsters' solidarity with striking Strongsville teachers

Thanks to Brother Fred Crow for this photo of the action.

Ohio Teamsters from Local 436 stood with striking teachers and 14 other unions in Strongsville on Friday. The teachers walked off the job on March 4 over pay, benefits and working conditions after contract talks broke down.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The point was not only to show solidarity, but to emphasize the broader role of collective bargaining in assuring workers get treated fairly by their employer, close to the second anniversary of another large gathering of union workers on Strongsville Commons to protest the now-defeated Senate Bill 5... 

Several union representatives, including those from the transit workers, communication workers, Teamsters, United Auto Workers and several others, echoed that point. 

“An injury to one is an injury to all,” said Pat Gallagher, president of the North Shore AFL-CIO. “I want the Strongsville board of education to know that we are behind the Strongsville Education Association and we will work with them and fight with them until they get a fair and just agreement.”... 

(Strongsville Education Association President Tracy) Linscott said the rally was a morale booster for the SEA’s ranks after six weeks on the picket line, and the issue goes beyond the city’s border. 

“It shows everyone that it’s not just about Strongsville City Schools, it’s about labor and collective bargaining across the state,” Linsoctt said. “It also shows us that we have support from people right here in the community.”

Stand strong, brothers and sisters!

Private prison hellhole outed in Ohio

Question: What's even more disturbing than private prison hellholes in Ohio?

Answer: Private prison hellholes for debtors in Ohio.

ThinkProgress today reported on the swift decline of the nation's first privately owned (not just operated) prison in Northern Ohio:

In an unprecedented experiment fueled by budget concerns, Ohio sold a state prison to Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest private prison corporations in the country, in 2011. Within a year, a state audit of Lake Erie Correctional Institute, the nation’s first privately owned state prison, found rampant abuse and abysmal conditions well below state standards. The CCA prison was given another chance to pass, but flunked another inspection four months later. Independent reports continue to illuminate filthy, broken facilities, as well as much higher rates of crime and violence in and around the prison. On Tuesday, the ACLU of Ohio sent Ohio lawmakers a comprehensive timeline of the prison’s decline since CCA took over. 

The Lake Erie prison is now reportedly overcrowded at 130 percent capacity, with single-person cells holding 3 inmates each, according to internal documents obtained by the ACLU. Assaults on guards and other inmates have skyrocketed by 40 percent. 

In fact, on the same day the ACLU released their timeline, the Lake Erie prison had to tamp down a series of inmate fights that lead to the confinement of 500 inmates.

We've known for a long time that privately operated prisons suck, so it's no surprise that a privately owned prison would suck even worse.

But the recent news that Ohio allows debtor prisons to exist suggests something even more sinister: illegal institutional efforts to imprison poor people for being poor. .... Which creates a whole new population for private prisons!

Here's the expose from US News:

Several courts in Ohio are illegally jailing people because they are too poor to pay their debts and often deny defendants a hearing to determine if they're financially capable of paying what they owe, according to an investigation released Thursday by the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The ACLU likens the problem to modern-day debtors' prisons. Jailing people for debt pushes poor defendants farther into poverty and costs counties more than the actual debt because of the cost of arresting and incarcerating individuals, the report said.  

"The use of debtors' prison is an outdated and destructive practice that has wreaked havoc upon the lives of those profiled in this report and thousands of others throughout Ohio," the report said.

Read the whole thing here.

Today's Teamster News 03.27.13

Real wages decline; literally no one notices  Angry Bear   ...Real wages fell 0.2% in 2012, down from $295.49 (1982-84 dollars) to $294.83 per week, according to the 2013 Economic Report of the President….Yet no one in the media noticed, or at least none thought it newsworthy...
Has trade weighed down wages?  manufacture this   ... trade with less-developed countries lowered wages in 2011 by roughly $1,800 for a full-time, full-year worker earning the average wage for employees without a four-year college degree...
Store Charges Browsing Customers $5 'Just Looking' Fee  Daily Finance   ...A store in Australia is apparently taking an extreme approach to eliminating showrooming, alerting would-be customers that they'll be charged $5 if they come in to browse but don't buy anything...
Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco  Bloomberg   ...Wal-Mart doesn’t have enough bodies to restock the shelves, according to interviews with store workers. In the past five years, the world’s largest retailer added 455 U.S. Wal-Mart stores, a 13 percent increase ... In the same period, its total U.S. workforce, which includes Sam’s Club employees, dropped by about 20,000, or 1.4 percent...
Wal-Mart sues grocery union, others over trespassing in Florida  Reuters   ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has sued a major grocery workers union and others who have protested at its Florida stores, the latest salvo in its legal fight to stop "disruptive" rallies in and around its stores by groups seeking better pay and working conditions...
The Lesson From Cyprus: Europe Is Politically Bankrupt  The Automatic Earth   ...people from Portugal to Spain to Italy to Greece to Cyprus and Ireland are worse off today than they were when they first adopted the euro. Moreover, their economies are all getting worse as we speak and projected to plunge further...
Europe Expands Investigation Into Derivatives Market  New York Times   ...European Union antitrust regulators have expanded their investigation into whether a small network of big banks unfairly controls the derivatives market...
US military veterans face inadequate care after returning from war – report  Guardian   ...Almost half of the 2.2 million troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan report difficulties on their return home, but many receive inadequate care from the US Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs...
Paycheck protection bill: Measure hurts unions, working families (LTE)  News-Leader  ...The paycheck deception bill aims to strip away (Missouri) public sector workers’ right to choose whether or not to have union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks, and it would infringe on these workers’ freedom of speech by making contributing to a political fund more difficult...
Montana Senate backs bill requiring 'dark money' groups to ID donors  Missoulian   ...The Senate, in a vote Monday that exposed the split among Republicans, endorsed an overhaul of Montana’s campaign finance law to require anonymous “dark money” political groups to disclose their donors...
Senate GOP pushes union dues, unemployment changes  Associated Press   ...The Georgia business lobby won another victory as the Senate approved a change on paycheck deductions for union dues and limited unemployment benefits for certain temporary workers...
Proposed Income Tax Cut Likely to Hurt, Rather than Help Wisconsin Economy  Wisconsin Budget Project Blog   ...n the 1990s, the five states with the deepest tax cuts grew at less than a third the rate of all the other states over the next economic cycle...
Kasich signs SB 47, starts clock for opponents to shut down bill  Plain Dealer   ...Gov. John Kasich signed legislation Friday that would make it harder for Ohio voters to repeal laws. Now the clock is ticking for opponents who could void the controversial bill...

Today's Teamster News 03.10.13

Wells Fargo Typo Victim Dies in Court  LA Weekly   ...Larry Delassus' heart stopped as he watched his attorney argue his negligence and discrimination case against banking behemoth Wells Fargo. His death came more than two years after Wells Fargo mistakenly mixed up his Hermosa Beach address with that of a neighbor in the same condo complex. The bank's typo led Wells Fargo to demand that Delassus pay $13,361.90...
And yet the labor force participation rate is still falling  Marginal Revolution   ...The number of multiple jobholders rose by 340,000 this month, to 7.26 million ... Which means that one way of looking at this report is to say that all of the new jobs created were second or third jobs, going to people who were already employed elsewhere...
Trans Pacific Partnership: A new Constitution  Angry Bear   ... This document is the constitution of a new world order...
Locked Out: Disrepair Forces Closure of Vital Shipping Lane  der Spiegel   ...The Kiel Canal, one of Europe's most vital shipping lanes, was shut down this week when two neglected locks broke down. The closure threatens to cause major disruption to shipping in Northern Europe, but Germany's Transport Ministry has promised rapid repairs...
Don’t Cut Social Security, Expand It (opinion)  Bloomberg News   ...Private saving for retirement is woeful. This typical near-retirement household has just $42,000 in retirement accounts and $18,300 in other financial assets...
Fired ACORN Worker Wins $100,000 Settlement From Republican Con-Artist James O'Keefe  The Brad Blog   ...Federal criminal James O'Keefe agrees to settle with San Diego ACORN employee fired after being illegally videotaped in phony "pimp" hoax...
Feds Question Boeing’s Tests of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Dreamliners  Wired   ...Federal authorities investigating what caused a lithium-ion battery aboard a 787 Dreamliner to catch fire are questioning the testing performed by suppliers and Boeing, pointing to a lack of a thorough test of the battery and its charging system as a complete system, either in a lab or aboard an airplane...
Bill aims to restrict Ohio ballot referendums  Toledo Blade   ...A Republican-backed bill making it tougher to use the ballot box to overturn laws and amend the Ohio Constitution soon could find itself before voters...
JobsOhio has a lot of explaining to do regarding how it conducts its business: letter to the editor  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...We really don't know how JobsOhio operates. Where it gets its money is becoming clearer: secret appropriations, private donations and soon the sweet deal with the state liquor agency. But how it uses its money internally?...

Today's Teamster News 02.27.13

IT'S OFFICIAL: Cutting Government Spending Is Hurting Our Economy  Business Insider   ...When we cut government spending, we reduce economic growth and we put more people out of work...
Take the Sequester Seriously... if Not Literally  Huffington Post   ...some federal expenditure ... won't be on the chopping block -- things the taxpayers will continue to pay for. Perhaps most outrageously, $10 billion in subsidies to the oil industry -- a substantial part of which flow directly to the Treasuries of foreign countries like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria -- will continue...
Wall St bonuses rise 9% amid job cuts  Financial Times   ...The average cash bonus paid to Wall Street employees has jumped 9 per cent, thanks to rebounding financial industry profits and dramatic job cuts that spread the rewards across a smaller pool...
Teenager spotted walking 10 MILES in the snow to interview for $7-an-hour job is given work on the spot by restaurant owner - who doubled his pay  Daily Mail   ...A teen's luck appears to have changed after a chance encounter with an Indiana restaurant owner during a 10-mile trek through ice and snow for a minimum wage job interview...
Kerry pushes for trans-Atlantic free trade agreement during stop in Germany  Associated Press   ...U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pushed Tuesday for a free-trade agreement between the United States and Europe...
Arizona Senate chief Andy Biggs says union bills are priority  Associated Press   ...President Andy Biggs, who backs anti-union legislation that would impact police and firefighters, told The Associated Press that he remains optimistic about the effort despite signs that some state Senate Republicans aren't too keen about going to war with the unions that often help bankroll their campaigns...
House votes to shrink political power of teachers  NWI Times   ... Schools would be barred from automatically deducting from paychecks the portion of teacher union dues used for political purposes under legislation approved Monday by the Indiana House...
Taylor teachers' contract clause appears to buck state's right-to-work law  Detroit Free Press   ...A recently ratified teacher contract in the Taylor School District has caught the eye of state legislators because it includes a 10-year union security clause that will guarantee union dues be paid -- just weeks before the state's right-to-work law goes into effect March 27...
Michigan lawmakers revive divisive proposals  The Detroit News   ...Among those is one that would outlaw prevailing wage requirements on public works projects...
Mo. Senate stalls on 'paycheck protection' bill  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...Debate has stalled in the Missouri Senate on legislation that Democrats say is part of the state's "war on labor...
Gov. Kasich should put Ohio Turnpike promises to paper, Democrats say"  Plain Dealer   ...Ohio House Democrats are questioning the credibility of promises Gov. John Kasich made with his plan to use Ohio Turnpike tolls to pay for transportation projects...
Pa. lawmakers want to end prevailing wage for transportation projects  Pottstown Mercury   ...Pennsylvania’s prevailing-wage law sets standard wages and benefits for all government-funded construction projects that cost more than $25,000...
Federal panel opens GOP computers in Wisconsin redistricting case  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...A federal court gave groups suing the state broad access Monday to three computers used by the Legislature to develop Republican-friendly voting maps...

Detriot newspaper workers agree to new 3-year contract  Detroit Free Press   ...new three-year contracts provide annual across-the-board 1% wage increases and different health insurance coverage with lower premiums...The four unions covered by the contracts are the Newspaper Guild of Detroit, plus Teamsters Local 372...