Today's Teamster News 03.01.14

Teamster News
Listen to Teamster Nation News  teamster.org  ...Introducing the inaugural episode of Teamster Nation News, the Teamster's new podcast. Teamster Nation News is your weekly stop for key Teamster news for working families. Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe...
CEO's Lavish Pay Trimmed At McKesson, A Teamster Employer  TeamsterNation   ...McKesson CEO John Hammergren took a 'voluntary' $45 million cut to his pension after shareholders said 'no more' to his lavish wages at the company's annual meeting in August...
Teamsters, First Student in Seattle reach agreement  Seattle Times   ...After a daylong negotiation, Teamsters Local 174, which represents about 450 bus drivers for Seattle Public Schools, has reached a fully recommended tentative settlement with First Student, a private contractor that provides busing for the district. The agreement means that bus service will continue uninterrupted...
Teamsters back to work Sunday: Bay Valley strike ends  Sauk Valley Media   ...Dan Dring, vice president of human resources and operations for the Green Bay, Wis.-based company, said the workers of Teamsters Local 722 had voted earlier in the day to approve the contract...
Teamsters Airline Division Statement on GAO 2014 Aviation Workforce Report  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne issued an official statement on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) 2014 Aviation Workforce report, “Current and Future Availability of Airline Pilots”…
Teamsters Celebrate Women’s History  teamster.org   ...March is Women’s History Month, a time to reflect upon and celebrate the contributions American women have made to society. Teamster women have made significant contributions to the work force over the years, bravely fighting for economic and social justice...
Teamsters: Single Mothers Struggling Even More To Support Families   teamster.org   ...Women trying to support a family on their own are having a harder time doing so, according to a new report that details the plight of the working poor. As this nation enters Women’s History Month, single mothers are disproportionately struggling to make ends meet, and the document shows conditions are getting worse for them, not better...
Trade
U.S. staring contest with Japan stretches out Pacific trade pact   Reuters  ...A standoff between the United States and Japan is holding up talks on a sweeping Pacific free trade pact and a lack of authority to push an eventual deal through the U.S. Congress without amendment may be undercutting Washington's hand...
How TPP Would Harm You at the Drug Store and on the Internet  Truthout   ...A law affecting content on the Internet that was rejected by Congress shows up in a trade agreement designed to bypass and override Congress. Small, innovative companies that manufacture low-cost, generic drugs find their products blocked...
EU-U.S. trade talks face growing hostility, ministers warn  Reuters   ...Free-trade talks between the United States and the European Union are in danger of being derailed by populist groups opposing everything from globalization to multinationals, EU ministers and business leaders said on Friday...
State Battles
Fifteen States Move to Curb Reckless Outsourcing  In the Public Interest   ...Lawmakers in Iowa, Kansas and Oregon join movement to improve transparency and accountability, keep taxpayer in control of their services...
State will lose if RTW passes (Opinion)  News-Leader   ...The Missouri House may pass “Right to Work” and may override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto, but Missouri will be the loser. An example is the new Boeing passenger aircraft plant. Billions in lucrative concessions were given, but Boeing needed the skilled union workers available. Building huge passenger aircraft is entirely too risky to hire low-wage, unskilled laborers and train them to standards...
No sign of expansion at plant where UAW dealt loss   Associated Press   ...Friday marks the end of the two-week period within which U.S. Sen. Bob Corker promised Volkswagen would announce another line at its factory in Tennessee if workers there rejected representation by the United Auto Workers union...
Walker Supporter Says Governor Needs To 'Tell The Truth' About Emails  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Seymer calls it a serious violation of Wisconsin's open records law to have a campaign making these decisions...
War on Workers
Poultry workers, industry take fight to Capitol Hill over proposal to speed processing lines  Washington Post   ...Poultry workers, chicken industry lobbyists and food-safety advocates have been converging on Capitol Hill in recent weeks with dueling efforts to either boost or kill a proposal to overhaul the way the $60 billion-a-year poultry industry operates processing plants...
A Third Of America’s Most Successful Corporations Pay Less Than A 10 Percent Income Tax Rate   ThinkProgress   ...The average effective income tax rate for giant, profitable companies from 2008 to 2012 was just 19.4 percent...
Thousands More New York City Workers Will Now Get Paid Sick Days  ThinkProgress   ...The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed an expansion of paid sick days...
5 'Good' Jobs that Require Lots of Education and Training and Shockingly Pay Little More than Minimum Wage  AlterNet   ...You will never guess which highly skilled professions pay poverty wages...
Medical Marijuana Workers Have The Same Labor Rights As Everyone Else, Feds Say  Huffington Post   ...The next time a pot shop gets a visit from the feds, it won't necessarily be from drug enforcement agents looking to shut the operation down. It might just come from workplace regulators making sure that labor laws are being followed...
Miscellaneous
Bank Allegedly Neglects Foreclosed Houses In Black And Latino Neighborhoods  ThinkProgress   ...Housing discrimination advocates filed a complaint against a fourth major bank for failing to maintain foreclosed homes in non-white neighborhoods...
U.S. Retail Chains See First Profit Decline Since Recession  Bloomberg   ...The results paint a grim picture of an industry hit hard by the sluggish job recovery and slow wage growth, which have turned U.S. consumers into a nation of penny pinchers...
Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation  Bloomberg   ...The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say...
Citigroup reports fraud in Mexico unit, lowers 2013 results  Reuters   ... Citigroup Inc (C.N) said on Friday that it has discovered at least $400 million in fraudulent loans in its Mexico subsidiary and said employees may have been in on the crime...
Poorly Regulated, High-Speed 'Bomb Trains' Are One Crash Away from Devastating Towns in NYC Suburbs  AlterNet   ...Few residents of the city's bucolic 'burbs know of the huge risks whirring by at top speeds...
NSA surveillance hurting tech firms' business  USA Today   ...The National Security Agency, and revelations about its extensive surveillance operations — sometimes with the cooperation of tech firms — have undermined the ability of many U.S. companies to sell products in key foreign countries, creating a fissure with the U.S. government and prompting some to scramble to create "NSA-resistant" products...
Swiss Bank That Facilitated U.S. Tax Evasion Continues To Avoid Prosecution  Real News   ...Although Credit Suisse helped ultra-wealthy Americans evade taxes, the bank will face no prosecution due to Swiss bank secrecy laws and a heedless U.S. Justice department...

Today's Teamster News 06.01.13

US Lawmakers Press Obama to Include Currency in Pacific Trade Deal  Reuters   ...Nearly 200 U.S. lawmakers have signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to insist on new rules against currency manipulation in a proposed trade agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region...
Walmart’s Shocking Threats And Employee Bullying Detailed In 27-Page Report  Opposing Views   ...Walmart continually asks Americans to consider what’s more important: justice for its workers or low prices for its customers?...
Catalonia firefighters were starting fires rather than putting them out this week during a demonstration held in Barcelona  Metro   ...emergency workers clashed with riot police while protesting over austerity cuts in the recession hit Catalonian capital...
Judge: Coal company can drop retirement benefits for 13,000 workers, Underwood says  MSNBC   ...Bankrupt coal mining company Patriot Coal will be able to void its agreement with the United Mine Workers union (UMWA) and stop funding pensions for retired miners, thanks to a ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri...
Pension bill stuns counties, could force tax increases  Tampa Bay Times   ..."Is that money going to FRS to actually shore it up? Or is it a long-term strategy to pressure those of us at the local level to say we can't sustain these increases?"...
New Jersey Passes Misclassification Bill; Gov. Christie Could Veto  Truckinginfo   ...Though the Teamsters-backed employee misclassification bill was passed Thursday by the New Jersey State Senate, opponents say they will continue to work to make sure the measure does not actually become law...
Kasich frustrating safety unions  Toledo Blade   ...Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers are pursuing tax cuts and banking huge surpluses, according to police and professional firefighters, at the expense of public safety...
UW education dean warns school boards that ALEC seeks to wipe them out  The Cap Times   ...The model legislation disseminated by the pro-free market American Legislative Exchange Council’s national network of corporate members and conservative legislators seeks to privatize education and erode the local control...
Appeals court upholds voter ID law  WISN   ...A Wisconsin law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls is constitutional, a state appeals court ruled Thursday...
How Enterprise Zones Are Killing the California Dream  Truth-Out   ...(Teamsters) John Thomas and Hans Burkhardt  ... are now collecting unemployment, having lost their $22-an-hour jobs after their employers moved to take advantage of California’s enterprise zone plan…
Connecticut State House boosts minimum wage  CT Post   ...More than 106,000 of Connecticut's lowest-earning workers will see the current $8.25-per-hour minimum wage rise to $9 by January 2015...
Perry Vetoes "Buy American" Bill Approved 145-0 By Texas House  Opposing Views   ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the “Buy American” bill, despite a unanimous bipartisan vote in the Texas House. The bill, which would have given preference to American-made goods...
Port Truck Drivers Take a Stand  WTOC-TV   ...WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga., reports on port truck driver misclassification and how it impacts drivers and their families. Visit the Stand Up for Savannah! website for more information...
Teamsters Protect Nine-Hour Workday for CVS Pharmacists  Teamsters Joint Council 25   ...CVS pharmacists ratified a new three-year contract yielding raises and improved working conditions after Teamsters Local 727 representatives fought to protect the nine-hour workday from the management that wanted 12-14 hour workdays...
The Union Edge Reports On Durham School Bus Campaign  Union Edge   ...Teamsters Local 570 and Durham School Services drivers in the Baltimore area are standing up for safe school buses, respect and an end to wage theft. Hear what they have to say on The Union Edge radio program...
Dairy Workers in Washington Win With Teamsters  IBT   ...A unit of 30 drivers at Estenson Logistics, who voted to be represented by the Teamsters Local 690 in Spokane in late 2011, recently ratified their first contract...