Trade
Secret Negotiations Hide the TPP’s Most Damaging Provisions Economy in Crisis ...Under the proposed agreement, American laws regarding labor, environmental or financial issues would apply to companies based in America, but foreign companies operating in the U.S. could challenge these laws in a secret international tribunal if they felt these laws affected their ability to do business. ..
WTO in Seattle - 15 Years Ago Huffington Post ...it's clear that the WTO and NAFTA-style trade deals were never about economics or shared prosperity. They are really about power relationships. Who will have the power to claim any new gains created through work?...
State Battles
Voter ID Laws Are Now In 17 More States Than They Were In 2000 Five Thirty Eight ...It's gotten a lot harder to vote...
Scott Walker Runs Ad Supporting Equal Pay After Repealing Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law Huffington Post ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released an ad on Tuesday in which his female lieutenant governor applauds his support for equal pay for women -- just two years after the governor signed a bill repealing the state's equal pay law...
New York State Allows Water Grab Natural Resources News Service ...Painted Post siphons water from a shallow, rain-dependent aquifer it shares with several neighboring communities, including the town of Corning. In 2012 the village signed a five-year deal reportedly worth up to $20 million with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to sell up to 1 million gallons a day used to frack Shell’s natural gas wells in Pennsylvania. The village has called the sale a routine disposal of “surplus property.”...
Has privatization failed Texas utility customers? Electric Light & Power ...Relative to U.S. electricity prices, Texas electricity prices during the deregulation and privatization period (2002-2011) rise four times faster than increases in Texas electricity prices before deregulation (1970-2001). The Texas electricity market is much less efficient now as a result of deregulation...
Minority Voter Suppression In North Carolina Witnessed Firsthand Politicususa ...on Thursday, October 23rd [] I voted in Winston-Salem at the Forsyth County Government Center. Several African-American voters told me they were told by people outside the polling place that it would take two hours to vote. I, a clearly upper-middle-class white man, was told forty-five minutes to an hour; it took fifty-five minutes...
War on Workers
$17.27 an Hour, With Benefits, While Training? Welcome to Union Apprenticeship in Indiana We Party Patriots ... Lee Culver of United Association (Plumbers) Local 210 said there was plenty of opportunity in his union and claimed they “struggled to get good applicants.” The five-year apprenticeship does not cost the students a dime. Rather, they earn $17.27 with benefits while they train....
Workers at Amazon.com logistics centers in Germany on strike again in wage dispute Associated Press ...The ver.di union said Monday workers at Amazon's logistics centers in Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Rheinberg and Graben will be off the job through the end of Wednesday's late shift, while those at Werne through Tuesday's late shift...
One worker killed, 3 injured when facade falls from building WGN-TV ...This morning, the building is barricaded and its owner is facing citations for having work performed by unlicensed contractors without permits...
Branson spaceship explosion: The 'missed' warnings The Telegraph ...Sir Richard Branson’s company and US authorities were repeatedly warned about safety issues surrounding Virgin Galactic’s rocket engine system...
Showing posts with label TX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TX. Show all posts
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.19.14
Teamsters
Teamsters’ employees will not get raises Hernando Today ...Hernando County, which was poised to give salary increases to hundreds of employees — union members and others — instead will give them only to some non-union workers. The nonunion employees who will receive raises are those whose paychecks were deemed too low by consultants who looked at pay of government employees elsewhere…
First Student drivers vote to authorize strike Savannah Now ...First Student school bus drivers and mechanics voted to authorize a strike during a meeting of the Teamsters Union Local 728 on Saturday...
Trade
TPP Agreement Will 'Definitely' Raise Medicine Costs telesurtv.com ...The U.S. government has insisted you shouldn't read the leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Expect the cost of life saving drugs like cancer medicine to rise under the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a Malaysian legislator warned on Friday...
TPPA would criminalise journalism No Right Turn ...it also criminalises leaks which are detrimental to a party's international relations or international security. So, the US is trying to US the TPPA as a backdoor to silence WikiLeaks, the Snowden files, and the entire enterprise of journalistic criticism of power...
A Trade Storm Is Brewing Public Citizen ...Because Fast Track is so unpopular in the House, Speaker John Boehner has a devious plan to force the bill through Congress in the “lame duck” session after the November elections...
State Battles
The Court won’t interrupt Texas voter ID law Scotus Blog ...In a stinging defeat for the Obama administration and a number of civil rights groups in a major test case on voters’ rights, a divided Supreme Court told the state of Texas early Saturday morning that it may enforce its strict voter ID law for this year’s general election, with early voting starting next Monday...
About Those 8400 Jobs (opinion) Milwaukee Sentinel ...what really matters, is that Governor Walker promised us, that his 250,000 jobs pledge was his "floor not his ceiling". He came as close to reaching his jobs promise as the Bucks did in landing Lebron James!...
War on Workers
Two-Thirds Of America's Biggest Retailers Are Worried About Flat Wages Huffington Post ...Sixty-eight percent of the top 100 retail companies in the U.S. -- a group that includes, Walmart, Apple, McDonald's and J.C. Penney -- say the country's stagnant wages pose a major threat to their bottom lines, according to a new report by the Center For American Progress...
Ebola! Prevention and Responsibility In The Public Interest ...Why didn’t the National Institutes of Health (NIH) properly anticipate Ebola? It did, according to NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. “NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001,” he asserted, pointing to stagnant congressional funding for developing a vaccine and therapeutics. Dr. Collins said that with funding, “we probably would have had a vaccine in time…”
Unprecedented amount of 'dark money' fuels midterm races Los Angeles Times ..."Is that going to become the new normal, this kind of money focused on one candidate, and we don't know where it's coming from?"...
405 Reopened After Construction Workers Killed in DUI Crash KTLA ...Two construction workers were hit and killed by drunk drivers on the northbound 405 Freeway early Sunday morning.
Teamsters’ employees will not get raises Hernando Today ...Hernando County, which was poised to give salary increases to hundreds of employees — union members and others — instead will give them only to some non-union workers. The nonunion employees who will receive raises are those whose paychecks were deemed too low by consultants who looked at pay of government employees elsewhere…
First Student drivers vote to authorize strike Savannah Now ...First Student school bus drivers and mechanics voted to authorize a strike during a meeting of the Teamsters Union Local 728 on Saturday...
Trade
TPP Agreement Will 'Definitely' Raise Medicine Costs telesurtv.com ...The U.S. government has insisted you shouldn't read the leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Expect the cost of life saving drugs like cancer medicine to rise under the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a Malaysian legislator warned on Friday...
TPPA would criminalise journalism No Right Turn ...it also criminalises leaks which are detrimental to a party's international relations or international security. So, the US is trying to US the TPPA as a backdoor to silence WikiLeaks, the Snowden files, and the entire enterprise of journalistic criticism of power...
A Trade Storm Is Brewing Public Citizen ...Because Fast Track is so unpopular in the House, Speaker John Boehner has a devious plan to force the bill through Congress in the “lame duck” session after the November elections...
State Battles
The Court won’t interrupt Texas voter ID law Scotus Blog ...In a stinging defeat for the Obama administration and a number of civil rights groups in a major test case on voters’ rights, a divided Supreme Court told the state of Texas early Saturday morning that it may enforce its strict voter ID law for this year’s general election, with early voting starting next Monday...
About Those 8400 Jobs (opinion) Milwaukee Sentinel ...what really matters, is that Governor Walker promised us, that his 250,000 jobs pledge was his "floor not his ceiling". He came as close to reaching his jobs promise as the Bucks did in landing Lebron James!...
War on Workers
Two-Thirds Of America's Biggest Retailers Are Worried About Flat Wages Huffington Post ...Sixty-eight percent of the top 100 retail companies in the U.S. -- a group that includes, Walmart, Apple, McDonald's and J.C. Penney -- say the country's stagnant wages pose a major threat to their bottom lines, according to a new report by the Center For American Progress...
Ebola! Prevention and Responsibility In The Public Interest ...Why didn’t the National Institutes of Health (NIH) properly anticipate Ebola? It did, according to NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. “NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001,” he asserted, pointing to stagnant congressional funding for developing a vaccine and therapeutics. Dr. Collins said that with funding, “we probably would have had a vaccine in time…”
Unprecedented amount of 'dark money' fuels midterm races Los Angeles Times ..."Is that going to become the new normal, this kind of money focused on one candidate, and we don't know where it's coming from?"...
405 Reopened After Construction Workers Killed in DUI Crash KTLA ...Two construction workers were hit and killed by drunk drivers on the northbound 405 Freeway early Sunday morning.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.16.14
Teamster News
Teamsters, Highway Safety Groups Sue Feds To Force Tougher Rule For New Trucker Training AFL-CIO ...What happened to Dorothy Wert’s late husband, David, on an unlit Pennsylvania highway three years ago shouldn’t happen to anyone. Thanks to the lack of a tough federal rule for training rookie tractor-trailer drivers, the Teamsters and highway safety groups say, it did. Now they’re suing in federal court to try to prevent such further tragedies...
Judge Reinstates Port Truckers Fired In Labor Dispute Los Angeles Times ...“This sends a message throughout the Port of Los Angeles and the shipping industry that misclassified drivers are in fact employees,” said Julie Gutman Dickinson, the attorney for the truckers and the Teamsters Union port division...
Clallam Rejects Mediator Proposal, But Is Willing To Work With Teamsters Union On New Labor Contract Peninsula Daily News ...The Clallam County commissioners unanimously rejected Tuesday a mediator’s proposal but said they are willing to continue working with Teamsters Local No. 589. Both county and union officials said that the county and its largest union are close to settling a new labor contract that has been in the works for 22 months...
Performance-Based Pay Accepted In 'Historic' Union Agreement Brainerd Dispatch ...The county also approved contracts with Teamsters Local 346, which includes nine corrections and dispatch sergeants, and with the Law Enforcement Labor Services of Minnesota (LELS) on behalf of communications officers in the sheriff's office...
Domestic Relations Court union in limbo The Chronicle-Telegram ...The push by Lorain County Adult Probation Department employees to unionize has had the unintended effect of throwing into question the legality of the [Teamsters] union representing workers at the county’s Juvenile Detention Home and other residential facilities under the control of the county’s Domestic Relations Court...
Trade
‘Tough’ issues still remain in Japan-U.S. TPP talks Japan Times ...“We were encouraged by the progress made this week during our negotiations,” Cutler said. “But we need to underscore that issues before us are tough.”...
Street Demonstrations In 21 European Countries Held To Protest Against TAFTA/TTIP; Another ACTA Revolt Brewing? TechDirt ..."Self-organised European Citizens' initiative Against TTIP and CETA"... was only launched last week, it has already collected over 600,000 signatures from European citizens at the time of writing...
State Battles
House Speaker gives his thoughts on what could help Ferguson rebound from months of turmoil Missouri Digital News ...Missouri's House Speaker said one of the ways the legislature could help Ferguson is by passing right-to-work legislation...
Opponents Ask Supreme Court To Block Texas Voter ID Law Reuters ... Civil rights lawyers on Wednesday asked a U.S. Supreme Court justice to block a Texas law requiring voters in the state to show certain forms of identification in order to cast a ballot...
Judge blocks Wisconsin law used in Walker probe Associated Press ...A federal judge Tuesday blocked enforcement of a Wisconsin election law that's at the center of an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker's 2012 recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative groups...
Investigation reveals influence of 'dark money' in Wisconsin against anti-mining senators The Cap Times ...The financial power and influence of an out-of-state mining company and business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce were used to directly target two Wisconsin lawmakers who stood in the way of the passage of a new state mining bill...
War on Workers
WalMart Makes Empty Gesture to End Minimum Wage Pay While Cutting Pay Levels naked capitalism ...pay levels, including benefits, are falling for WalMart workers, not rising...
Amid Ebola Fears, Airlines Share Few Cabin Cleaning Details KSTP ...flight attendants and others who work on planes are becoming increasingly concerned, while others are raising questions about just how clean airplane cabins are...
A Red Privatization Horror Story Thom Hartmann ...For Republicans, privatization is just a business opportunity. And they don’t care about the damage privatization does to our society because privatization destroys the one thing standing between them and the total corporate takeover of our democracy: our government...
Texas worker dies after electrocution at school Associated Press ...West Texas authorities say a contractor has died after being electrocuted while working on a light pole at a school...
Worker dies at nuclear facility in E. Tenn. Associated Press ... the employee fell into a vault where radioactive resins are unloaded before they are taken to be processed for disposal. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries...
Teamsters, Highway Safety Groups Sue Feds To Force Tougher Rule For New Trucker Training AFL-CIO ...What happened to Dorothy Wert’s late husband, David, on an unlit Pennsylvania highway three years ago shouldn’t happen to anyone. Thanks to the lack of a tough federal rule for training rookie tractor-trailer drivers, the Teamsters and highway safety groups say, it did. Now they’re suing in federal court to try to prevent such further tragedies...
Judge Reinstates Port Truckers Fired In Labor Dispute Los Angeles Times ...“This sends a message throughout the Port of Los Angeles and the shipping industry that misclassified drivers are in fact employees,” said Julie Gutman Dickinson, the attorney for the truckers and the Teamsters Union port division...
Clallam Rejects Mediator Proposal, But Is Willing To Work With Teamsters Union On New Labor Contract Peninsula Daily News ...The Clallam County commissioners unanimously rejected Tuesday a mediator’s proposal but said they are willing to continue working with Teamsters Local No. 589. Both county and union officials said that the county and its largest union are close to settling a new labor contract that has been in the works for 22 months...
Performance-Based Pay Accepted In 'Historic' Union Agreement Brainerd Dispatch ...The county also approved contracts with Teamsters Local 346, which includes nine corrections and dispatch sergeants, and with the Law Enforcement Labor Services of Minnesota (LELS) on behalf of communications officers in the sheriff's office...
Domestic Relations Court union in limbo The Chronicle-Telegram ...The push by Lorain County Adult Probation Department employees to unionize has had the unintended effect of throwing into question the legality of the [Teamsters] union representing workers at the county’s Juvenile Detention Home and other residential facilities under the control of the county’s Domestic Relations Court...
Trade
‘Tough’ issues still remain in Japan-U.S. TPP talks Japan Times ...“We were encouraged by the progress made this week during our negotiations,” Cutler said. “But we need to underscore that issues before us are tough.”...
Street Demonstrations In 21 European Countries Held To Protest Against TAFTA/TTIP; Another ACTA Revolt Brewing? TechDirt ..."Self-organised European Citizens' initiative Against TTIP and CETA"... was only launched last week, it has already collected over 600,000 signatures from European citizens at the time of writing...
State Battles
House Speaker gives his thoughts on what could help Ferguson rebound from months of turmoil Missouri Digital News ...Missouri's House Speaker said one of the ways the legislature could help Ferguson is by passing right-to-work legislation...
Opponents Ask Supreme Court To Block Texas Voter ID Law Reuters ... Civil rights lawyers on Wednesday asked a U.S. Supreme Court justice to block a Texas law requiring voters in the state to show certain forms of identification in order to cast a ballot...
Judge blocks Wisconsin law used in Walker probe Associated Press ...A federal judge Tuesday blocked enforcement of a Wisconsin election law that's at the center of an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker's 2012 recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative groups...
Investigation reveals influence of 'dark money' in Wisconsin against anti-mining senators The Cap Times ...The financial power and influence of an out-of-state mining company and business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce were used to directly target two Wisconsin lawmakers who stood in the way of the passage of a new state mining bill...
War on Workers
WalMart Makes Empty Gesture to End Minimum Wage Pay While Cutting Pay Levels naked capitalism ...pay levels, including benefits, are falling for WalMart workers, not rising...
Amid Ebola Fears, Airlines Share Few Cabin Cleaning Details KSTP ...flight attendants and others who work on planes are becoming increasingly concerned, while others are raising questions about just how clean airplane cabins are...
A Red Privatization Horror Story Thom Hartmann ...For Republicans, privatization is just a business opportunity. And they don’t care about the damage privatization does to our society because privatization destroys the one thing standing between them and the total corporate takeover of our democracy: our government...
Texas worker dies after electrocution at school Associated Press ...West Texas authorities say a contractor has died after being electrocuted while working on a light pole at a school...
Worker dies at nuclear facility in E. Tenn. Associated Press ... the employee fell into a vault where radioactive resins are unloaded before they are taken to be processed for disposal. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries...
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.27.14
Trade
GOP congressman rips Chamber of Commerce and gives back award Washington Post ...The Chamber of Commerce is beholden to special interests and has long since forgotten the main street businesses that struggle everyday to make payroll and keep their company afloat,” said Bentivolio. “It is with great pride that I reject their award, and call on them to stand on the side of America, instead of on the side of China and corporate interests seeking to exploit people for profit....”
State Battles
ALEC Picked Up Tab for Texas Lawmakers' Junkets Common Cause ...Five Texas lawmakers have accepted more than $7,600 in corporate-funded “scholarships” to cover the cost of air fares, hotel rooms and other travel expenses to attend meetings of the American Legislative Exchange Council, (ALEC), a corporate lobbying group, according to new research by Common Cause...
Right-to-work may get new life next year WMUR ...Right-to-work, a measure that allows workers to get union benefits without joining or paying dues, could come up again in the Legislature next session, depending on what happens in the November elections...
Ohio tries to diffuse controversy over charter-school whistle-blowers Akron Beacon Journal ...he four former teachers, who worked at Horizon Science Academy Dayton from 2004 to 2013, alleged at the July 15 state school board meeting that sexual games were played by students and condoned by other educators, and surveillance footage captured students having oral sex at a school function...
Koch brothers’ new racial gambit: What’s really behind a quiet battle with AFSCME Salon ...“The Koch brothers want a government-free society,” Saunders says. “Public service has enabled African-Americans to move into the middle class, but the Kochs are trying to dismantle that...”
State to pay nearly $1.7 million to identify buildings to sell Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...The idea has been controversial, with critics saying they fear the state could make a short-term gain but a long-term loss. They fear getting rid of the heating and cooling plants could be costly because state prisons and University of Wisconsin campuses would have buy heating and cooling on the private market...
War on Workers
Federal regulators let utilities gouge customers David Cay Johnston ...Now the first in a raft of cases asserting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is letting utilities gouge customers by setting egregiously high rates of return may finally get a hearing...
Private Equity's Free Pass New York Times ...But while private equity firms often operate like Goldman and Morgan Stanley, they are not uniformly subject to the same broker-dealer regulatory regime...
The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less New York Times ...The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation...
NLRB ruling further expands 'micro unions' Washington Examiner ...In a case involving a Macy's department store cosmetics counter, the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday further expanded its recent precedents allowing for so-called "micro-unions." The ruling will make it easier for unions to organize individual parts of an employer's workforce...
WHY THE ECONOMY SUCKS: Because American Companies And Their Owners Are Greedier Now Than At Any Time In History Business Insider ...Five years after the recovery began, unemployment remains high. And the Americans who are lucky enough to be working are getting paid less as a percent of the economy than they ever have in history. Meanwhile, America's corporations and their owners have never had it better...
GOP congressman rips Chamber of Commerce and gives back award Washington Post ...The Chamber of Commerce is beholden to special interests and has long since forgotten the main street businesses that struggle everyday to make payroll and keep their company afloat,” said Bentivolio. “It is with great pride that I reject their award, and call on them to stand on the side of America, instead of on the side of China and corporate interests seeking to exploit people for profit....”
State Battles
ALEC Picked Up Tab for Texas Lawmakers' Junkets Common Cause ...Five Texas lawmakers have accepted more than $7,600 in corporate-funded “scholarships” to cover the cost of air fares, hotel rooms and other travel expenses to attend meetings of the American Legislative Exchange Council, (ALEC), a corporate lobbying group, according to new research by Common Cause...
Right-to-work may get new life next year WMUR ...Right-to-work, a measure that allows workers to get union benefits without joining or paying dues, could come up again in the Legislature next session, depending on what happens in the November elections...
Ohio tries to diffuse controversy over charter-school whistle-blowers Akron Beacon Journal ...he four former teachers, who worked at Horizon Science Academy Dayton from 2004 to 2013, alleged at the July 15 state school board meeting that sexual games were played by students and condoned by other educators, and surveillance footage captured students having oral sex at a school function...
Koch brothers’ new racial gambit: What’s really behind a quiet battle with AFSCME Salon ...“The Koch brothers want a government-free society,” Saunders says. “Public service has enabled African-Americans to move into the middle class, but the Kochs are trying to dismantle that...”
State to pay nearly $1.7 million to identify buildings to sell Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...The idea has been controversial, with critics saying they fear the state could make a short-term gain but a long-term loss. They fear getting rid of the heating and cooling plants could be costly because state prisons and University of Wisconsin campuses would have buy heating and cooling on the private market...
War on Workers
Federal regulators let utilities gouge customers David Cay Johnston ...Now the first in a raft of cases asserting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is letting utilities gouge customers by setting egregiously high rates of return may finally get a hearing...
Private Equity's Free Pass New York Times ...But while private equity firms often operate like Goldman and Morgan Stanley, they are not uniformly subject to the same broker-dealer regulatory regime...
The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less New York Times ...The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation...
NLRB ruling further expands 'micro unions' Washington Examiner ...In a case involving a Macy's department store cosmetics counter, the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday further expanded its recent precedents allowing for so-called "micro-unions." The ruling will make it easier for unions to organize individual parts of an employer's workforce...
WHY THE ECONOMY SUCKS: Because American Companies And Their Owners Are Greedier Now Than At Any Time In History Business Insider ...Five years after the recovery began, unemployment remains high. And the Americans who are lucky enough to be working are getting paid less as a percent of the economy than they ever have in history. Meanwhile, America's corporations and their owners have never had it better...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.15.14
Teamster News
Republic Airways Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Company teamster.org ...On Friday, the Teamsters Airline Division announced that it reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Republic Airways...
YRCW Successfully Refinances Debt teamster.org ...YRCW Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW) announced on February 13th that it has closed on the financing of a new $700 million term loan and a $450 million asset-based loan facility, which was the final piece to an improved capital structure...
Teamsters Local 357: Pilots say Quality of Life/Pay, NOT Qualifications Causing Pilot Shortage Teamsters Local 357 ...Pilots who fly for one of the nation's largest regional airline companies say it's not a lack of qualified pilots, but rather a lack of pay and respect that's grounding airplanes and could cause a ripple effect in the nation's air transportation system...
Union braves deep freeze; negotiations remain frigid Sauk Valley Media ...Members of Teamsters Local 722 have picketed outside the Bay Valley Foods plant in Dixon, Illinois in subzero temperatures, day and night for more than a week. The company has called in non-union workers to run the plant…
Hatch wins endorsements from major labor unions Associated Press ...Major Iowa labor unions, including four Teamsters locals, announced Thursday that they are endorsing Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch for governor...
State Battles
Volkswagen employees say 'no' to United Auto Workers in Tennessee CNN ...Union organizers in the South suffered a setback Friday when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers...
Gov. John Kasich has his right-to-work answer -- and he's sticking to it: Ohio Politics Roundup Cleveland Plain Dealer ...Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder used to say right-to-work legislation – seen by organized labor as a tool to weaken unions by banning dues-paying requirements – was not on his agenda. Then, in late 2012, Snyder reversed course, setting the stage for a new state law. In Ohio, fellow Republican Gov. John Kasich offers the same phrasing...
Indiana lawmakers to state job agency: "Tell the truth" WTHR.com ...Some Indiana lawmakers say new legislation is needed to prevent the state from hiding and distorting its real job numbers. "We just need to tell the truth," said House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City). "Based on what I've seen, we've got a problem..."
Bills aim to restrict union organizing, picketing Associated Press ...Mississippi senators want to restrict some union organizing and picketing practices, as well as local laws that might benefit workers...
Michigan Supreme Court takes on key component of Right to Work law Beverly Hills Courier ...As labor groups around the country continue their fight against Right to Work, one of the nation’s most notorious Right to Work battlegrounds is making headlines again now that Michigan’s Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial legislation...
Retirement privatization could cost workers millions WISHTV.com ...Battle lines are being drawn over a plan to privatize part of Indiana’s public retirement system. Supporters say failing to take action could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. But, critics say it would also leave thousands of public employees facing a new set of retirement risks...
Trade
Joe Biden Admits Vast Obama Trade Deals Are On Hold Huffington Post ... The White House's trade plans are on hold, at least for now, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday, in welcome news to many Democrats who oppose the sweeping deals...
No Fast Track to TPP: Fix NAFTA First (Opinion) Huffington Post ...The big corporations and the Obama administration are trying to push through a giant new trade treaty that gives corporations even more power, and which will send even more jobs, factories, industries and money out of the country. This is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and they are pushing something called "fast track" in Congress to help push it through...
War on Workers
Obama Lashes Out At Republicans Over Volkswagen-UAW Organizing Fight Reuters ...President Barack Obama on Friday waded into Washington's war of words over a union organizing election in Tennessee when he accused Republicans of trying to block labor's efforts at an auto plant in that state, according to a Democratic aide who heard the remarks...
Tipped workers push for a raise after more than 20 years at $2.13 DailyKos ...The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. I repeat, $2.13. It's been frozen for well over 20 years, since 1991, but the minimum wage increase Democrats are pushing would increase it over a period of several years...
Companies Squeeze 401K Plans From Facebook to JPMorgan Bloomberg News ...Employers are squeezing their workers’ retirement savings, holding back on both the amount and the timing of 401(k) matching funds and dragging out vesting schedules. Taken together, these measures are making it more difficult to save for old age...
New Report: U.S. Employers Have Hijacked State Dept. Cultural Exchange Program, Used It as Cheap Labor Source AlterNet ...The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented widespread abuse of J-1 Visa program...
Court Okays Labor Department Rule: Guestworkers Must Earn Prevailing Wages In These Times ...The appellate court's unanimous decision in favor of the Labor Department is a significant victory for guest workers, helping protect them from employer exploitation and labor abuses...
High-end fashion mogul to the 99 percent: You’d be rich in China, so don’t complain about inequality Salon ...The CEO and co-founder of a luxury fashion company says America's become a nation of whiners and that being poor in the world's richest country isn't so bad...
Hundreds Protest Tax Breaks for Twitter, Tech Companies Truthout ...Hundreds of protesters picketed Twitter’s offices because of an exceptionally generous tax break it receives from San Francisco. Meanwhile, municipal workers are being pressured to make concessions about their health care contributions because the city is running at a deficit...
Republic Airways Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Company teamster.org ...On Friday, the Teamsters Airline Division announced that it reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Republic Airways...
YRCW Successfully Refinances Debt teamster.org ...YRCW Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW) announced on February 13th that it has closed on the financing of a new $700 million term loan and a $450 million asset-based loan facility, which was the final piece to an improved capital structure...
Teamsters Local 357: Pilots say Quality of Life/Pay, NOT Qualifications Causing Pilot Shortage Teamsters Local 357 ...Pilots who fly for one of the nation's largest regional airline companies say it's not a lack of qualified pilots, but rather a lack of pay and respect that's grounding airplanes and could cause a ripple effect in the nation's air transportation system...
Union braves deep freeze; negotiations remain frigid Sauk Valley Media ...Members of Teamsters Local 722 have picketed outside the Bay Valley Foods plant in Dixon, Illinois in subzero temperatures, day and night for more than a week. The company has called in non-union workers to run the plant…
Hatch wins endorsements from major labor unions Associated Press ...Major Iowa labor unions, including four Teamsters locals, announced Thursday that they are endorsing Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch for governor...
State Battles
Volkswagen employees say 'no' to United Auto Workers in Tennessee CNN ...Union organizers in the South suffered a setback Friday when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers...
Gov. John Kasich has his right-to-work answer -- and he's sticking to it: Ohio Politics Roundup Cleveland Plain Dealer ...Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder used to say right-to-work legislation – seen by organized labor as a tool to weaken unions by banning dues-paying requirements – was not on his agenda. Then, in late 2012, Snyder reversed course, setting the stage for a new state law. In Ohio, fellow Republican Gov. John Kasich offers the same phrasing...
Indiana lawmakers to state job agency: "Tell the truth" WTHR.com ...Some Indiana lawmakers say new legislation is needed to prevent the state from hiding and distorting its real job numbers. "We just need to tell the truth," said House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City). "Based on what I've seen, we've got a problem..."
Bills aim to restrict union organizing, picketing Associated Press ...Mississippi senators want to restrict some union organizing and picketing practices, as well as local laws that might benefit workers...
Michigan Supreme Court takes on key component of Right to Work law Beverly Hills Courier ...As labor groups around the country continue their fight against Right to Work, one of the nation’s most notorious Right to Work battlegrounds is making headlines again now that Michigan’s Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial legislation...
Retirement privatization could cost workers millions WISHTV.com ...Battle lines are being drawn over a plan to privatize part of Indiana’s public retirement system. Supporters say failing to take action could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. But, critics say it would also leave thousands of public employees facing a new set of retirement risks...
Trade
Joe Biden Admits Vast Obama Trade Deals Are On Hold Huffington Post ... The White House's trade plans are on hold, at least for now, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday, in welcome news to many Democrats who oppose the sweeping deals...
No Fast Track to TPP: Fix NAFTA First (Opinion) Huffington Post ...The big corporations and the Obama administration are trying to push through a giant new trade treaty that gives corporations even more power, and which will send even more jobs, factories, industries and money out of the country. This is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and they are pushing something called "fast track" in Congress to help push it through...
War on Workers
Obama Lashes Out At Republicans Over Volkswagen-UAW Organizing Fight Reuters ...President Barack Obama on Friday waded into Washington's war of words over a union organizing election in Tennessee when he accused Republicans of trying to block labor's efforts at an auto plant in that state, according to a Democratic aide who heard the remarks...
Tipped workers push for a raise after more than 20 years at $2.13 DailyKos ...The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. I repeat, $2.13. It's been frozen for well over 20 years, since 1991, but the minimum wage increase Democrats are pushing would increase it over a period of several years...
Companies Squeeze 401K Plans From Facebook to JPMorgan Bloomberg News ...Employers are squeezing their workers’ retirement savings, holding back on both the amount and the timing of 401(k) matching funds and dragging out vesting schedules. Taken together, these measures are making it more difficult to save for old age...
New Report: U.S. Employers Have Hijacked State Dept. Cultural Exchange Program, Used It as Cheap Labor Source AlterNet ...The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented widespread abuse of J-1 Visa program...
Court Okays Labor Department Rule: Guestworkers Must Earn Prevailing Wages In These Times ...The appellate court's unanimous decision in favor of the Labor Department is a significant victory for guest workers, helping protect them from employer exploitation and labor abuses...
High-end fashion mogul to the 99 percent: You’d be rich in China, so don’t complain about inequality Salon ...The CEO and co-founder of a luxury fashion company says America's become a nation of whiners and that being poor in the world's richest country isn't so bad...
Hundreds Protest Tax Breaks for Twitter, Tech Companies Truthout ...Hundreds of protesters picketed Twitter’s offices because of an exceptionally generous tax break it receives from San Francisco. Meanwhile, municipal workers are being pressured to make concessions about their health care contributions because the city is running at a deficit...
Miscellaneous
‘Exile The Homeless’ City Now Requires Permits And Large Fees To Feed The Homeless ThinkProgress ...Last August, Columbia, South Carolina approved a new plan to give its homeless population an impossible choice: leave downtown or be arrested. The city is now taking even more steps to criminalize homelessness...
Severe winter weather estimated to cost U.S. economy nearly $50 billion Los Angeles Times ...The severe weather that has hit much of the country this winter has cost the economy nearly $50 billion in lost productivity and 76,000 jobs...
Connecticut Verizon Workers Among Those Affected In Call Center Shake-Up CBS WTIC 1080 ...About 3,000 Verizon Wireless workers will have to transfer to different offices or find new jobs as part of a shake-up that will close five of the company’s customer call centers...
‘Exile The Homeless’ City Now Requires Permits And Large Fees To Feed The Homeless ThinkProgress ...Last August, Columbia, South Carolina approved a new plan to give its homeless population an impossible choice: leave downtown or be arrested. The city is now taking even more steps to criminalize homelessness...
Severe winter weather estimated to cost U.S. economy nearly $50 billion Los Angeles Times ...The severe weather that has hit much of the country this winter has cost the economy nearly $50 billion in lost productivity and 76,000 jobs...
Connecticut Verizon Workers Among Those Affected In Call Center Shake-Up CBS WTIC 1080 ...About 3,000 Verizon Wireless workers will have to transfer to different offices or find new jobs as part of a shake-up that will close five of the company’s customer call centers...
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.14.13
Drivers Rally Outside D.C. Taxicab Commission Meeting teamster.org ...Hundreds of taxi drivers rallied outside the monthly meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission today to protest the unfair towing and ticketing of cabs and to demand a voice in the regulatory process. Also, watch this video of D.C. taxi drivers rallying November 4 at Freedom Plaza and
delivering a letter outlining their concerns to Washington, D.C. Mayor
Vincent Gray...
Hoffa: Congress, Detroit Have Role in Improving Retirement Confidence teamster.org ...A secure retirement used to be seen as a right for all hardworking Michiganders. Whether you were a city government employee in Detroit or a private sector worker in Pontiac, if you put in the time and did your job well, you would be rewarded with a nest egg for your golden years that would allow you live comfortably...
Wal-Mart Workers Strike, Target Workers Threaten to Join Black Friday Walkout Portside ...Sub-contracted Twin Cities janitorial workers who clean stores for Target and other corporations plan to announce today that they’re prepared to strike that day as well...
Reports shed light on how Koch brothers' money flows to campaigns The Cap Times ...A slew of reports released Wednesday reveal that a network of conservative think tanks, funded by multinational corporations and industrialists — most notably Charles and David Koch — comprise a vast dark-money campaign funding mechanism that funnels cash to conservative candidates, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in last year’s recall election...
Scalia’s chance to smash unions: The huge under-the-radar case Salon ...A Supreme Court case being argued Wednesday could take away a tactic that's kept unions alive...
You won’t believe how much companies make every single second Salon ...The highest grosser on the list is Samsung, which hauls in almost $6,500 a second (In the five minutes it took us to write this post, Samsung made almost $2 million). It is followed closely by Apple at $4,540 a second...
House Pushing Back on Trade Deal; More Detail on How Secret Arbitration Panels Undermine Laws and Regulations naked capitalism ...Wow, this is amazing. Word has apparently gotten out even to Congressmen who can normally be lulled to sleep with the invocation of the magic phrase “free trade” that the pending Trans Pacific Partnership is toxic...
WikiLeaks releases major trade agreement draft chapter Salon ...“One could see the TPP as a Christmas wish-list for major corporations, and the copyright parts of the text support such a view...”
Bank Of America, Freddie Mac May Settle $1.4 Billion Mortgage Dispute Reuters ...The Bank of America is in talks with Freddie Mac to resolve disputes involving more than $1.4 billion in defective mortgages that Freddie wants the bank to take back...
Apple under investigation in Italy for alleged tax fraud Reuters ...U.S. tech giant Apple is under investigation in Milan for allegedly hiding more than 1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) from the Italian taxman, a judicial source with direct knowledge of the matter, confirming a local media report...
Congressional Approval Sinks to Record Low Gallup ...Americans' approval of the way Congress is handling its job has dropped to 9%, the lowest in Gallup's 39-year history of asking the question...
A Living Wage in Bangladesh (opinion) New York Times ...The government of Bangladesh is expected to soon announce an increase in the minimum wage for workers in the country’s clothing factories, which are big suppliers to Western retailers like Walmart and H&M. Its decision could improve the lives of millions of families that struggle to eke out an existence on as little as the equivalent of about $38 a month, the current minimum wage...
Costco, Nordstrom Refuse To Ruin Thanksgiving Huffington Post ...If you make a last-minute run to Costco on Thanksgiving Day, you'll be out of luck...
Top Democratic Pollster Says Don't Mess with Social Security -- Or Else Face the Wrath of Voters in 2014 Alternet ...more than half of the 77 million baby boomers heading toward their mid-60s and older—especially women and people of color—have literally no retirement savings, and will fall into poverty as they age...
Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15 million of Americans' personal debt The Guardian ...A group of Occupy Wall Street activists has bought almost $15,000,000 of Americans' personal debt over the last year as part of the Rolling Jubilee project to help people pay off their outstanding credit...
Socialist candidate leading in Seattle City Council race Raw Story ...With about 62,000 ballots from King County yet to be counted following the Nov. 4 election, 41-year-old economics professor Kshama Sawant was reportedly ahead of longtime incumbent Richard Conlin by 41 votes, with Sawant gathering 79,751 votes against 79,710 for Conlin...
Corporate crime wave in Texas: How a crackdown could be coming Salon ...The nation’s fourth-largest city, Houston, is slated to vote today on cracking down on an alleged national epidemic: companies not paying employees the wages they’re legally owed. The proposed ordinance would make companies found guilty of serious “wage theft” ineligible for city support...
Koch Brothers’ Dark Money Flowed into Wisconsin Recall Fight Express Milwaukee ...Group busted in California gave serious money to Wisconsin Club for Growth...
In Unintimidated, Scott Walker Reveals Depth of Disdain for Unions, Protesters Portside ...He ...charges that collective bargaining "isn't a right, but a racket."...
Michigan bill would ban employers from asking about felony convictions on job applications Michigan Live ...Michigan lawmakers are considering banning felony conviction check boxes on job applications. Supporters of the measure say the check boxes unfairly discriminate against people with criminal histories and hinder their ability to become successful members of society...
Freedom of Information Act requests could be cheaper, easier under Michigan House bill Michigan Live ...A state House panel on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill designed to update Michigan's Freedom of Information Act and ensure that government offices are not making it unnecessarily difficult for citizens to access public records...
State employee unions launch campaign to highlight government waste Detroit Free Press ...A coalition of unions representing 35,000 state employees has launched an effort to highlight areas where Michigan government can be more efficient and improve services to citizens...
Hoffa: Congress, Detroit Have Role in Improving Retirement Confidence teamster.org ...A secure retirement used to be seen as a right for all hardworking Michiganders. Whether you were a city government employee in Detroit or a private sector worker in Pontiac, if you put in the time and did your job well, you would be rewarded with a nest egg for your golden years that would allow you live comfortably...
Wal-Mart Workers Strike, Target Workers Threaten to Join Black Friday Walkout Portside ...Sub-contracted Twin Cities janitorial workers who clean stores for Target and other corporations plan to announce today that they’re prepared to strike that day as well...
Reports shed light on how Koch brothers' money flows to campaigns The Cap Times ...A slew of reports released Wednesday reveal that a network of conservative think tanks, funded by multinational corporations and industrialists — most notably Charles and David Koch — comprise a vast dark-money campaign funding mechanism that funnels cash to conservative candidates, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in last year’s recall election...
Scalia’s chance to smash unions: The huge under-the-radar case Salon ...A Supreme Court case being argued Wednesday could take away a tactic that's kept unions alive...
You won’t believe how much companies make every single second Salon ...The highest grosser on the list is Samsung, which hauls in almost $6,500 a second (In the five minutes it took us to write this post, Samsung made almost $2 million). It is followed closely by Apple at $4,540 a second...
House Pushing Back on Trade Deal; More Detail on How Secret Arbitration Panels Undermine Laws and Regulations naked capitalism ...Wow, this is amazing. Word has apparently gotten out even to Congressmen who can normally be lulled to sleep with the invocation of the magic phrase “free trade” that the pending Trans Pacific Partnership is toxic...
WikiLeaks releases major trade agreement draft chapter Salon ...“One could see the TPP as a Christmas wish-list for major corporations, and the copyright parts of the text support such a view...”
Bank Of America, Freddie Mac May Settle $1.4 Billion Mortgage Dispute Reuters ...The Bank of America is in talks with Freddie Mac to resolve disputes involving more than $1.4 billion in defective mortgages that Freddie wants the bank to take back...
Apple under investigation in Italy for alleged tax fraud Reuters ...U.S. tech giant Apple is under investigation in Milan for allegedly hiding more than 1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) from the Italian taxman, a judicial source with direct knowledge of the matter, confirming a local media report...
Congressional Approval Sinks to Record Low Gallup ...Americans' approval of the way Congress is handling its job has dropped to 9%, the lowest in Gallup's 39-year history of asking the question...
A Living Wage in Bangladesh (opinion) New York Times ...The government of Bangladesh is expected to soon announce an increase in the minimum wage for workers in the country’s clothing factories, which are big suppliers to Western retailers like Walmart and H&M. Its decision could improve the lives of millions of families that struggle to eke out an existence on as little as the equivalent of about $38 a month, the current minimum wage...
Costco, Nordstrom Refuse To Ruin Thanksgiving Huffington Post ...If you make a last-minute run to Costco on Thanksgiving Day, you'll be out of luck...
Top Democratic Pollster Says Don't Mess with Social Security -- Or Else Face the Wrath of Voters in 2014 Alternet ...more than half of the 77 million baby boomers heading toward their mid-60s and older—especially women and people of color—have literally no retirement savings, and will fall into poverty as they age...
Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15 million of Americans' personal debt The Guardian ...A group of Occupy Wall Street activists has bought almost $15,000,000 of Americans' personal debt over the last year as part of the Rolling Jubilee project to help people pay off their outstanding credit...
Socialist candidate leading in Seattle City Council race Raw Story ...With about 62,000 ballots from King County yet to be counted following the Nov. 4 election, 41-year-old economics professor Kshama Sawant was reportedly ahead of longtime incumbent Richard Conlin by 41 votes, with Sawant gathering 79,751 votes against 79,710 for Conlin...
Corporate crime wave in Texas: How a crackdown could be coming Salon ...The nation’s fourth-largest city, Houston, is slated to vote today on cracking down on an alleged national epidemic: companies not paying employees the wages they’re legally owed. The proposed ordinance would make companies found guilty of serious “wage theft” ineligible for city support...
Koch Brothers’ Dark Money Flowed into Wisconsin Recall Fight Express Milwaukee ...Group busted in California gave serious money to Wisconsin Club for Growth...
In Unintimidated, Scott Walker Reveals Depth of Disdain for Unions, Protesters Portside ...He ...charges that collective bargaining "isn't a right, but a racket."...
Michigan bill would ban employers from asking about felony convictions on job applications Michigan Live ...Michigan lawmakers are considering banning felony conviction check boxes on job applications. Supporters of the measure say the check boxes unfairly discriminate against people with criminal histories and hinder their ability to become successful members of society...
Freedom of Information Act requests could be cheaper, easier under Michigan House bill Michigan Live ...A state House panel on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill designed to update Michigan's Freedom of Information Act and ensure that government offices are not making it unnecessarily difficult for citizens to access public records...
State employee unions launch campaign to highlight government waste Detroit Free Press ...A coalition of unions representing 35,000 state employees has launched an effort to highlight areas where Michigan government can be more efficient and improve services to citizens...
Monday, September 9, 2013
Today's Teamster News 09.09.13
Left With Nothing Washington Post ...This man owed $134 in property taxes. The District sold the lien to an investor who foreclosed on his $197,000 house and sold it...
Welfare Doesn’t Pay Much, But it’s More Than Minimum Wage in 35 States care2.com ...many of the “benefits” the authors tout as welfare are housing, medical and food subsidies that are often used by families who work at minimum wage but still need state or federal support because their pay is so low...
SEC considers rule comparing CEO pay with workers CNN Money ...Last year, Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) CEO Lawrence Ellison made $96.1 million, Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500)'s R. W. Tillerson made $40.2 million and Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)'s Michael Duke made $20.7 million. Soon, the SEC might require those companies to say how those salaries compare with the folks who work for them...
Charts from BLS Employment Report Show Bad Jobs Continue to Rule in 2013 Economic Populist ...Probably the worse news of this report is July was revised down by 58,000 jobs to show only a 104,000 payroll gain and June was also revised down by 16,000 to 172,000 jobs added for that month. Additionally the types of jobs gained are mostly low paying ones...
Why business needs a stronger labor movement MSNBC ...Capital’s current hogging of corporate income is doing very little to create actual prosperity, except for stockholders—and eventually it won’t create prosperity even for them...
The Missing Pieces in the Criminal Probe of JPMorgan’s Energy Trading Wall Street on Parade ... if FERC’s investigation was obstructed, if it was unable to obtain all the documents and information it needed, how was it able to craft a reasonable settlement on behalf of ripped-off electricity ratepayers and the taxpayers who have footed the bill for this stonewalled investigation for two years?...
Study: “Beginning of the Longest Period of Economic Decline in American History” Before It's News ...It’s no secret that the middle class is dying a slow and horrible death, which will ultimately lead to impoverishment of the majority of our population. As of right now 100 million Americans are already living at or near poverty – and this is supposed to be an economic recovery!...
Texas Helpless to Prevent Another Fertilizer Plant Explosion care2.com ...Given that about 150 Texas businesses similarly house massive amounts of highly explosive fertilizer, Texas fire departments have taken it upon themselves to help prevent a similar disaster from happening again. However, some businesses are refusing to consent to an inspection and — unfortunately — the law is on the businesses’ side...
Wisconsin’s Biggest Use Tax is Hidden in Governor Walker’s Budget. Wessels Elder Law ...For every dollar someone uses in Medicaid when they are in a nursing home, they will have to pay it back when they die, or when their spouse dies...
Charter schools propped up by state funding – how much is your school district losing? Plunderbund ...99% of Ohio’s school districts lose students to charter schools and of those that do, 95% lose more money per pupil than they actually receive from the state...
Moral Monday demonstrations slated in Jacksonville JDNews.com ...Members of the Onslow County Democratic Party will gather outside Jacksonville City Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. Sept. 9 and subsequent Mondays to October...
Uneven Progress: What the Economic Recovery Has Meant for California’s Workers Labor's Edge ...Even after three years of job growth, California has about 600,000 fewer jobs than it did prior to the recession, and unemployment remains high in many parts of the state...
Welfare Doesn’t Pay Much, But it’s More Than Minimum Wage in 35 States care2.com ...many of the “benefits” the authors tout as welfare are housing, medical and food subsidies that are often used by families who work at minimum wage but still need state or federal support because their pay is so low...
SEC considers rule comparing CEO pay with workers CNN Money ...Last year, Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) CEO Lawrence Ellison made $96.1 million, Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500)'s R. W. Tillerson made $40.2 million and Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)'s Michael Duke made $20.7 million. Soon, the SEC might require those companies to say how those salaries compare with the folks who work for them...
Charts from BLS Employment Report Show Bad Jobs Continue to Rule in 2013 Economic Populist ...Probably the worse news of this report is July was revised down by 58,000 jobs to show only a 104,000 payroll gain and June was also revised down by 16,000 to 172,000 jobs added for that month. Additionally the types of jobs gained are mostly low paying ones...
Why business needs a stronger labor movement MSNBC ...Capital’s current hogging of corporate income is doing very little to create actual prosperity, except for stockholders—and eventually it won’t create prosperity even for them...
The Missing Pieces in the Criminal Probe of JPMorgan’s Energy Trading Wall Street on Parade ... if FERC’s investigation was obstructed, if it was unable to obtain all the documents and information it needed, how was it able to craft a reasonable settlement on behalf of ripped-off electricity ratepayers and the taxpayers who have footed the bill for this stonewalled investigation for two years?...
Study: “Beginning of the Longest Period of Economic Decline in American History” Before It's News ...It’s no secret that the middle class is dying a slow and horrible death, which will ultimately lead to impoverishment of the majority of our population. As of right now 100 million Americans are already living at or near poverty – and this is supposed to be an economic recovery!...
Texas Helpless to Prevent Another Fertilizer Plant Explosion care2.com ...Given that about 150 Texas businesses similarly house massive amounts of highly explosive fertilizer, Texas fire departments have taken it upon themselves to help prevent a similar disaster from happening again. However, some businesses are refusing to consent to an inspection and — unfortunately — the law is on the businesses’ side...
Wisconsin’s Biggest Use Tax is Hidden in Governor Walker’s Budget. Wessels Elder Law ...For every dollar someone uses in Medicaid when they are in a nursing home, they will have to pay it back when they die, or when their spouse dies...
Charter schools propped up by state funding – how much is your school district losing? Plunderbund ...99% of Ohio’s school districts lose students to charter schools and of those that do, 95% lose more money per pupil than they actually receive from the state...
Moral Monday demonstrations slated in Jacksonville JDNews.com ...Members of the Onslow County Democratic Party will gather outside Jacksonville City Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. Sept. 9 and subsequent Mondays to October...
Uneven Progress: What the Economic Recovery Has Meant for California’s Workers Labor's Edge ...Even after three years of job growth, California has about 600,000 fewer jobs than it did prior to the recession, and unemployment remains high in many parts of the state...
Monday, July 8, 2013
How about restoring taxpayer control over public assets?
Bad things happen when government let corporations loot public assets, our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy remind us. (They're the wonderful folks who brought us AlecExposed.org.)
Brendan Fischer at CMD tells us two sordid tales of privatization gone awry.
In The Public Interest -- an offshoot of AFSCME -- summarizes the pitfalls of privatization:
Brendan Fischer at CMD tells us two sordid tales of privatization gone awry.
- In Chicago, a Morgan Stanley-backed company took control of 36,000 public parking meters with a 75-year contract -- and as a result, parking fees have exploded, meters run until 10pm, and taxpayers must reimburse the company for lost meter profits when they want to hold a parade or street fair. The plan was quickly pushed through the City Council and passed with no public input or debate.
- In South Carolina, after the state outsourced its water system, the for-profit corporation failed to pay state employee payroll taxes, lost track of tens of thousands of dollars, and lost millions of gallons of water. But the private company refused to come clean about what happened and comply with the public records law's transparency requirements, despite being funded by public dollars.
In The Public Interest -- an offshoot of AFSCME -- summarizes the pitfalls of privatization:
Outsourcing means taxpayers have very little say over how tax dollars are spent and noRecently, In The Public Interest came up with a legislative agenda to empower taxpayers to take back the assets they own. The Taxpayer Empowerment Agenda includes some great ideas. Here are a few of our favorites:
say on actions taken by private companies that control our public services. Outsourcing
means taxpayers cannot vote out executives who make decisions that hurt public health
and safety. Outsourcing means taxpayers are contractually stuck with a monopoly run
by a single corporation – and those contracts often last decades. And outsourcing too
So often it's true.
often means a race to the bottom for the local economy, as wages and benefits fall while corporate profits rise.
Read more about it here.
- Regularly post online how much taxpayers are spending on private contracts and how many workers are employed by those contracts, just as government does.
- Make sure every contract allows government to cancel the contract if the company doesn’t live up to its promises of quality and cost savings.
- Prohibit any company that has evaded taxes or broken the law from taking over public services. (YES!!!)
- Require companies that privatize public services to pay their employees a living wage and provide reasonable benefits.
- Ban contract language that guarantees company profits.
- Ensure that public service workers have the opportunity to submit their own plan to save money and provide quality services.
Monday, July 1, 2013
How taxpayers are revolting against privatization
State and local governments are starting to end the looting of the taxpayer by for-profit corporations.
So says the Center for Media and Democracy, our indispensable friends who have done so much to expose ALEC as an escort service for corporations and state lawmakers. ALEC relentlessly peddles its influence to turn state and local services over to predatory corporations.
In a recent post by Brendan Fischer, CMD tells us that voters are trying to restore control over public services in New Jersey, Texas, California and Kentucky:
So says the Center for Media and Democracy, our indispensable friends who have done so much to expose ALEC as an escort service for corporations and state lawmakers. ALEC relentlessly peddles its influence to turn state and local services over to predatory corporations.
In a recent post by Brendan Fischer, CMD tells us that voters are trying to restore control over public services in New Jersey, Texas, California and Kentucky:
In New Jersey, legislation to ensure that public services won't be privatized unless it will result in actual savings for taxpayers has passed both chambers of the legislature. In Texas, a bipartisan coalition is fighting against a private prison in Montgomery County, and Kentucky is rejecting private prisons altogether. And in Fresno, California, voters rejected a proposal backed by the city's popular mayor to privatize trash collection services.Here's what's happened:
- In New Jersey, a first-in-the-nation bill to crack down on predatory privatizers is on Gov. Chris Christie's desk. It would ban privatization contracts that save money by cutting services or raising rates, and requires companies to pay workers comparable wages and benefits.
- In Texas, Tea Party groups are joining with others to oppose GEO Group's purchase of a prison in Montgomery County.
- Kentucky is not renewing its contract with the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America, the fifth contract cancellation for CCA in a month.
- Fresno, Calif., voters this month rejected a plan to outsource trash service for the city's 500,000 residents to a private company, which would cut pay for the workers. Opponents of privatization were outspent 3-to-1, but they prevailed anyway.
...when taxpayers see what they lose by handing over control of their roads, prisons and other services, they don’t want anything to do with outsourcing.Yup.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Today's Teamster News 05.16.13
Upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership Looks Like Corporate Takeover Huffington Post ...TPP's negotiations are being held in secret with details kept secret even from our Congress. But giant corporations are in the loop...
Blame Citizens United for the IRS scandal Salon ...The real outrage is why these political groups have tax-exempt status in the first place...
Blame Citizens United for the IRS scandal Salon ...The real outrage is why these political groups have tax-exempt status in the first place...
Unions mobilize as labor board faces paralysis in Obama’s second term The Hill ...Labor is mounting an all-out push to fill the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as the agency faces the prospect of being sidelined for the rest of President Obama’s second term...
Obama Student Loan Policy Reaping $51 Billion Profit Huffington Post ...The Obama administration is forecast to turn a record $51 billion profit this year from student loan borrowers, a sum greater than the earnings of the nation's most profitable companies and roughly equal to the combined net income of the four largest U.S. banks by assets...
U.S. Senate Passes Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) with Buy America Amendment Included. manufacture this ...The Merkley/Brown amendment #866 included in the legislation would ensure that American-made iron, steel, and manufactured goods are used in projects financed by a new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) program whenever they are available and competitively priced...
U.S. tax dollars promote Monsanto's GMO crops overseas: report Reuters ...U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co and other seed makers, a report issued on Tuesday said...
U.S. Senate Passes Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) with Buy America Amendment Included. manufacture this ...The Merkley/Brown amendment #866 included in the legislation would ensure that American-made iron, steel, and manufactured goods are used in projects financed by a new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) program whenever they are available and competitively priced...
U.S. tax dollars promote Monsanto's GMO crops overseas: report Reuters ...U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co and other seed makers, a report issued on Tuesday said...
The reason France has gone into double-dip recession The Guardian ...This isn't a uniquely French problem – EU nations of various political hues are in trouble because of a fixation on austerity...
Texas Fertilizer Explosion Victims in No Mood to Pay Property Taxes ABC News ...After a fertilizer plant explosion destroyed part of a small city last month, the leaders of West, Texas, find themselves in the difficult financial position of having to collect property taxes from residents whose homes were destroyed...
Missouri legislation could weaken public labor unions St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The Missouri Legislature is sending a bill to Gov. Jay Nixon that would make public employee unions ask their members each year if they want to continue being members...
Michigan bill would impose fines on unions for illegal picketing Lansing State Journal ... Individuals and labor unions could face steep fines for engaging in illegal pickets if the Michigan Legislature takes up a bill that a Republican lawmaker recently reintroduced...
$483M tax windfall brightens Michigan's budget picture Detroit Free Press ...The state of Michigan will have more than $640 million in unanticipated revenues to work with as it finalizes the 2013-14 budget, John Nixon, the state budget director, said after yesterday’s revenue estimating conference at the state Capitol. But the bulk of that money will be “one-time money” that the state can’t build into ongoing budgets...
Health advocates oppose NC Senate smoking bill Associated Press ...Health advocates say a North Carolina Senate bill would repeal hundreds of local and community college rules restricting smoking outdoors...
Defense furloughs clobber Arizona employees Arizona Republic ...Thousands of civilian defense employees across Arizona will face sharp reductions in work and pay through the rest of the fiscal year as the Department of Defense implements furloughs…
New Jersey Property Taxes Rise to Record as Growth Slows Bloomberg News ...New Jersey’s average residential property-tax bill rose 1.6 percent to a record $7,885 last year as most towns abided by Governor Chris Christie’s 2 percent cap on the levies, slowing the growth rate, according to state data...
Why are women so absent from Georgia leadership? Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...None of Georgia’s eight statewide constitutional offices, from governor through agriculture commissioner, is held by a woman. None of the five members of the state Public Service Commission, elected statewide to regulate utilities, is a woman. Likewise, none of Georgia’s 16 seats in Congress — 14 in the House and two in the Senate — is held by a woman. For those keeping score at home, that’s zero for 29...
Illinois passes law to make Busch divest beer distributorship Chicago Tribune ...A bill that will require Anheuser-Busch to sell its minority stake in Chicago's City Beverage has passed the Illinois Senate. Anheuser and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission have been involved in a string of litigation on this issue since the commission blocked the world's largest brewer from acquiring City Beverage in 2010...
Pa. Dems line up to run vs. hobbled Corbett Politico ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett may be the most vulnerable incumbent governor in the country — and Keystone State Democrats are lining up to challenge him...
U.S. DOT Allowing Unsafe Mexico-Domiciled Truck Companies to Participate in NAFTA Pilot Program Threatening Safety of Motorists IBT ...The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation charged with overseeing the cross-border long-haul Pilot Program on North American Free Trade Agreement Trucking Provisions, has not taken definitive action to bar participation of unsafe Mexico-domiciled motor carriers...
Teamster Taxi Operator Shares His Experiences at Unity Conference Teamsters Local 117 …Local 117 is on the forefront of a new effort by the Teamsters Union to organize thousands of taxicab operators across the country...
Texas Fertilizer Explosion Victims in No Mood to Pay Property Taxes ABC News ...After a fertilizer plant explosion destroyed part of a small city last month, the leaders of West, Texas, find themselves in the difficult financial position of having to collect property taxes from residents whose homes were destroyed...
Missouri legislation could weaken public labor unions St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The Missouri Legislature is sending a bill to Gov. Jay Nixon that would make public employee unions ask their members each year if they want to continue being members...
Michigan bill would impose fines on unions for illegal picketing Lansing State Journal ... Individuals and labor unions could face steep fines for engaging in illegal pickets if the Michigan Legislature takes up a bill that a Republican lawmaker recently reintroduced...
$483M tax windfall brightens Michigan's budget picture Detroit Free Press ...The state of Michigan will have more than $640 million in unanticipated revenues to work with as it finalizes the 2013-14 budget, John Nixon, the state budget director, said after yesterday’s revenue estimating conference at the state Capitol. But the bulk of that money will be “one-time money” that the state can’t build into ongoing budgets...
Health advocates oppose NC Senate smoking bill Associated Press ...Health advocates say a North Carolina Senate bill would repeal hundreds of local and community college rules restricting smoking outdoors...
Defense furloughs clobber Arizona employees Arizona Republic ...Thousands of civilian defense employees across Arizona will face sharp reductions in work and pay through the rest of the fiscal year as the Department of Defense implements furloughs…
New Jersey Property Taxes Rise to Record as Growth Slows Bloomberg News ...New Jersey’s average residential property-tax bill rose 1.6 percent to a record $7,885 last year as most towns abided by Governor Chris Christie’s 2 percent cap on the levies, slowing the growth rate, according to state data...
Why are women so absent from Georgia leadership? Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...None of Georgia’s eight statewide constitutional offices, from governor through agriculture commissioner, is held by a woman. None of the five members of the state Public Service Commission, elected statewide to regulate utilities, is a woman. Likewise, none of Georgia’s 16 seats in Congress — 14 in the House and two in the Senate — is held by a woman. For those keeping score at home, that’s zero for 29...
Illinois passes law to make Busch divest beer distributorship Chicago Tribune ...A bill that will require Anheuser-Busch to sell its minority stake in Chicago's City Beverage has passed the Illinois Senate. Anheuser and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission have been involved in a string of litigation on this issue since the commission blocked the world's largest brewer from acquiring City Beverage in 2010...
Pa. Dems line up to run vs. hobbled Corbett Politico ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett may be the most vulnerable incumbent governor in the country — and Keystone State Democrats are lining up to challenge him...
U.S. DOT Allowing Unsafe Mexico-Domiciled Truck Companies to Participate in NAFTA Pilot Program Threatening Safety of Motorists IBT ...The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation charged with overseeing the cross-border long-haul Pilot Program on North American Free Trade Agreement Trucking Provisions, has not taken definitive action to bar participation of unsafe Mexico-domiciled motor carriers...
Teamster Taxi Operator Shares His Experiences at Unity Conference Teamsters Local 117 …Local 117 is on the forefront of a new effort by the Teamsters Union to organize thousands of taxicab operators across the country...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Today's Teamster News 04.17.13
Congress Quietly Repeals Congressional Insider Trading Ban NYU Local ...there’s one piece of legislation that both Democrats and Republicans hate unanimously: the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law passed last year designed to prevent insider trading among lawmakers and government officials by requiring them to post disclosures of their financial transactions online. ... it was repealed on Friday without debate...
The Fed Messed With the Wrong Senator The Salon …If foreclosure victims get justice, trace it back to a bad decision to stonewall Elizabeth Warren last week...
14 arrested during Patriot Coal protest Evansville Courier Press ...Union leaders say Peabody Energy and Arch Coal spun off assets and set up Patriot to fail in a deliberate plan to end benefit obligations to retirees...
Lawmakers would steer money from sale of liquor stores to transportation projects, not schools The Morning Call ...Union official calls bill 'bait and switch' because it runs counter to Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to apply the money to public schools...
AFL-CIO: "Pre-Emption Bill" threatens FL Wages, Economic Development Public News Service ...The "Pre-Emption Bill" passed the state House earlier this month and similar legislation is up for a vote in the Senate. The measure, House Bill 655, would prevent local governments from requiring vendors applying for contracts to offer things such as a living wage or domestic-partner benefits for workers...
Pence signs 'jobs bills' that create no jobs NWI Times ...expanding Medicaid according to the terms of the Affordable Care Act — which Pence refuses to do — would immediately create 30,000 private-sector jobs, according to the Indiana Hospital Association...
Christie vetoes bill giving unions a leg up in Sandy infrastructure projects NorthJersey.com ...Governor Christie vetoed a measure Monday that would have favored unions workers when rebuilding public infrastructure damaged by superstorm Sandy...
Perry Calls for $1.6 Billion in Business Tax Cuts The American-Statesman ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Monday endorsed $1.6 billion in tax relief for 109,000 Texas businesses, including allowing 85,000 small- and medium-sized businesses to deduct the first $1 million in gross receipts from their franchise tax bills...
Akron Council Passes Resolution Opposing Right-to-Work Push Akron Beacon Journal ...Akron City Council passed a resolution this week opposing a statewide push to get a right-to-work amendment on the November ballot...
Analysts From Left and Right Call Kansas Tax Plan the Worst in U.S. Wichita Eagle ... Kansas’ tax reform plan was named the worst in the nation by analysts from both the left and the right in a feature story by a national magazine...
Teamsters/TA BB battle erupts Albany Times Union ...Teamsters and the state Thruway Authority have been battling for months over contract issues and in the past few weeks the conflict has deepened as the Thruway, as they earlier said they would, has laid off approximately 200 workers as a cost-saving measure...
Scott Walker Escalates Assault on Free Speech The Progressive ...In the wake of the Walker administration’s massive failure to win convictions against citizens exercising political speech in the Wisconsin State Capitol, it has imposed new emergency rules for limiting dissent in the building that go into effect today...
Republic, Teamsters Strike Spreads The Vindicator ...Heading into its third week, the strike among 23 sanitation workers at Republic Services/Allied Waste once again ballooned Monday to include all of the company’s Youngstown workers...
Teamsters at Republic Services Strike in Greater Memphis Area IBT ...Sanitation workers employed by Republic Services/Allied Waste [NYSE: RSG] began an unfair labor practice strike at midnight in the greater Memphis area to protest the company’s violations of federal labor law. Workers at Republic/Allied Waste’s hauling yards in Memphis and Millington, Tenn. raised picket lines early this morning...
University of Penn Food Workers to Vote on Teamster Representation IBT ...Dining hall employees at Bon Appétit who work at the University of Pennsylvania will vote soon on Teamsters representation. They plan to be unionized so that they can collectively bargain with their employer for fair wages and paid sick days in a written contract.
School Bus Drivers Speak Out About Safety, Human Rights Concerns IBT ...Yesterday, school bus drivers from Charleston, Beaufort and Summerville’s Dorchester District 2, shared their serious concerns over school bus safety, service and working conditions at Durham School Services with a panel of international union representatives, prom..inent trade unionists from the U.S. and political leaders...
Safety, Civil Rights Concerns Among Topics for Discussion for Union School Bus Drivers, Labor Leaders Post and Courier ...Sabrina Isom worries about the safety of Lowcountry school buses. She shares the same concerns as union school bus drivers in Beaufort County, Charleston County and Dorchester 2, and they’re speaking out to ensure those issues are addressed...
The Fed Messed With the Wrong Senator The Salon …If foreclosure victims get justice, trace it back to a bad decision to stonewall Elizabeth Warren last week...
14 arrested during Patriot Coal protest Evansville Courier Press ...Union leaders say Peabody Energy and Arch Coal spun off assets and set up Patriot to fail in a deliberate plan to end benefit obligations to retirees...
Lawmakers would steer money from sale of liquor stores to transportation projects, not schools The Morning Call ...Union official calls bill 'bait and switch' because it runs counter to Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to apply the money to public schools...
AFL-CIO: "Pre-Emption Bill" threatens FL Wages, Economic Development Public News Service ...The "Pre-Emption Bill" passed the state House earlier this month and similar legislation is up for a vote in the Senate. The measure, House Bill 655, would prevent local governments from requiring vendors applying for contracts to offer things such as a living wage or domestic-partner benefits for workers...
Pence signs 'jobs bills' that create no jobs NWI Times ...expanding Medicaid according to the terms of the Affordable Care Act — which Pence refuses to do — would immediately create 30,000 private-sector jobs, according to the Indiana Hospital Association...
Christie vetoes bill giving unions a leg up in Sandy infrastructure projects NorthJersey.com ...Governor Christie vetoed a measure Monday that would have favored unions workers when rebuilding public infrastructure damaged by superstorm Sandy...
Perry Calls for $1.6 Billion in Business Tax Cuts The American-Statesman ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Monday endorsed $1.6 billion in tax relief for 109,000 Texas businesses, including allowing 85,000 small- and medium-sized businesses to deduct the first $1 million in gross receipts from their franchise tax bills...
Akron Council Passes Resolution Opposing Right-to-Work Push Akron Beacon Journal ...Akron City Council passed a resolution this week opposing a statewide push to get a right-to-work amendment on the November ballot...
Analysts From Left and Right Call Kansas Tax Plan the Worst in U.S. Wichita Eagle ... Kansas’ tax reform plan was named the worst in the nation by analysts from both the left and the right in a feature story by a national magazine...
Teamsters/TA BB battle erupts Albany Times Union ...Teamsters and the state Thruway Authority have been battling for months over contract issues and in the past few weeks the conflict has deepened as the Thruway, as they earlier said they would, has laid off approximately 200 workers as a cost-saving measure...
Scott Walker Escalates Assault on Free Speech The Progressive ...In the wake of the Walker administration’s massive failure to win convictions against citizens exercising political speech in the Wisconsin State Capitol, it has imposed new emergency rules for limiting dissent in the building that go into effect today...
Republic, Teamsters Strike Spreads The Vindicator ...Heading into its third week, the strike among 23 sanitation workers at Republic Services/Allied Waste once again ballooned Monday to include all of the company’s Youngstown workers...
Teamsters at Republic Services Strike in Greater Memphis Area IBT ...Sanitation workers employed by Republic Services/Allied Waste [NYSE: RSG] began an unfair labor practice strike at midnight in the greater Memphis area to protest the company’s violations of federal labor law. Workers at Republic/Allied Waste’s hauling yards in Memphis and Millington, Tenn. raised picket lines early this morning...
University of Penn Food Workers to Vote on Teamster Representation IBT ...Dining hall employees at Bon Appétit who work at the University of Pennsylvania will vote soon on Teamsters representation. They plan to be unionized so that they can collectively bargain with their employer for fair wages and paid sick days in a written contract.
School Bus Drivers Speak Out About Safety, Human Rights Concerns IBT ...Yesterday, school bus drivers from Charleston, Beaufort and Summerville’s Dorchester District 2, shared their serious concerns over school bus safety, service and working conditions at Durham School Services with a panel of international union representatives, prom..inent trade unionists from the U.S. and political leaders...
Safety, Civil Rights Concerns Among Topics for Discussion for Union School Bus Drivers, Labor Leaders Post and Courier ...Sabrina Isom worries about the safety of Lowcountry school buses. She shares the same concerns as union school bus drivers in Beaufort County, Charleston County and Dorchester 2, and they’re speaking out to ensure those issues are addressed...
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Today's Teamster News 04.09.13
U.S. Border Patrol Uniforms Manufactured in Mexico CNS News ...U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has granted uniform contracts to VF Imagewear, Inc., an apparel company that relies on manufacturing sites in Mexico for a “significant percentage” of its occupational garments...
The Koch Brothers War On Renewable Energy Is Killing Jobs and Destroying Our Air Politicususa ...ALEC is at Koch’s beck and call to grind out templates for Republicans to fill in to kill renewable energy standards in 28 states, as well as keep the money flowing into their coffers from the Kochs...
Critics question investment fund's Sacramento rental venture Sacramento Bee ...The giant New York investment fund – with its global portfolio of shopping malls, the Weather Channel and Motel 6 – owns nearly 10 times as many rental homes in Sacramento as any other private landlord, along with thousands of other homes across the nation...
Some 30,000 households a month have power supply cut Ekathimerini ...About 1,000 electricity connections are cut every day in Greece as Public Power Corporation customers are increasingly unable to pay their power bills on time, while accumulated debts to the country’s electricity giant stood at more than 1.3 billion euros at the end of 2012. This is not only due to the economic crisis that has eaten into household incomes, but also to the special property tax paid via power bills...
UPS Appeals Decision Blocking TNT Express Takeover NY Times ...LONDON — United Parcel Service has appealed a recent decision by European antitrust authorities that blocked its $6.7 billion takeover bid for the Dutch shipping company TNT Express...
State Supreme Court limits union rights in Texas Statesman ...Unionized government workers in Texas — including firefighters, police and teachers — don’t have the right to be accompanied by a union representative while being questioned during internal investigations, a divided Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday...
‘Right’ and Wrong (opinion) Toledo Blade ...if lawmakers didn’t violate the letter of the open-meetings act, they violated its spirit by shoving this highly controversial law through a lame-duck session without a committee hearing or anything that could pass for a real debate....
'Right-to-Work' Bills Die in Committee Mainebiz ...Two bills intended to reduce a union's ability to collect dues were defeated in a legislative committee's party-line vote Friday. The Bangor Daily News reported that the Legislature's Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee voted ...
Bobby Jindal Pulls Tax Plan After Outcry Talking Points Memo ...Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) is pulling a plan to replace the income and corporate tax with a new sales tax amid an outcry from groups ranging from clergy to business lobbyists...
Red Cross’ Teamsters ratify new contract Boston Herald ...The American Red Cross Massachusetts Blood Services Region received notification yesterday that employees represented by Teamsters Local 25 have voted to ratify a new three-year contract, officials said...
Teamsters Speak Out About National Express Drive Up Standards ...Teamster school bus drivers with Durham School Services and Teamster representatives recently traveled to the United Kingdom to call on National Express Group to honor the human rights of its workers in North America. Durham is a subsidiary of National Express, a multinational transportation company headquartered in Birmingham, England...
Teamsters to Observe Workers’ Memorial Day – April 28 IBT ...The Teamsters Union, and trade unionists around the world, recognize April 28 as Workers' Memorial Day — a day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. To help mark this important day, the Teamsters are providing resources to help with the planning of activities at local unions and workplaces...
The Koch Brothers War On Renewable Energy Is Killing Jobs and Destroying Our Air Politicususa ...ALEC is at Koch’s beck and call to grind out templates for Republicans to fill in to kill renewable energy standards in 28 states, as well as keep the money flowing into their coffers from the Kochs...
Critics question investment fund's Sacramento rental venture Sacramento Bee ...The giant New York investment fund – with its global portfolio of shopping malls, the Weather Channel and Motel 6 – owns nearly 10 times as many rental homes in Sacramento as any other private landlord, along with thousands of other homes across the nation...
Some 30,000 households a month have power supply cut Ekathimerini ...About 1,000 electricity connections are cut every day in Greece as Public Power Corporation customers are increasingly unable to pay their power bills on time, while accumulated debts to the country’s electricity giant stood at more than 1.3 billion euros at the end of 2012. This is not only due to the economic crisis that has eaten into household incomes, but also to the special property tax paid via power bills...
UPS Appeals Decision Blocking TNT Express Takeover NY Times ...LONDON — United Parcel Service has appealed a recent decision by European antitrust authorities that blocked its $6.7 billion takeover bid for the Dutch shipping company TNT Express...
State Supreme Court limits union rights in Texas Statesman ...Unionized government workers in Texas — including firefighters, police and teachers — don’t have the right to be accompanied by a union representative while being questioned during internal investigations, a divided Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday...
‘Right’ and Wrong (opinion) Toledo Blade ...if lawmakers didn’t violate the letter of the open-meetings act, they violated its spirit by shoving this highly controversial law through a lame-duck session without a committee hearing or anything that could pass for a real debate....
'Right-to-Work' Bills Die in Committee Mainebiz ...Two bills intended to reduce a union's ability to collect dues were defeated in a legislative committee's party-line vote Friday. The Bangor Daily News reported that the Legislature's Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee voted ...
Bobby Jindal Pulls Tax Plan After Outcry Talking Points Memo ...Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) is pulling a plan to replace the income and corporate tax with a new sales tax amid an outcry from groups ranging from clergy to business lobbyists...
Red Cross’ Teamsters ratify new contract Boston Herald ...The American Red Cross Massachusetts Blood Services Region received notification yesterday that employees represented by Teamsters Local 25 have voted to ratify a new three-year contract, officials said...
Teamsters Speak Out About National Express Drive Up Standards ...Teamster school bus drivers with Durham School Services and Teamster representatives recently traveled to the United Kingdom to call on National Express Group to honor the human rights of its workers in North America. Durham is a subsidiary of National Express, a multinational transportation company headquartered in Birmingham, England...
Teamsters to Observe Workers’ Memorial Day – April 28 IBT ...The Teamsters Union, and trade unionists around the world, recognize April 28 as Workers' Memorial Day — a day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. To help mark this important day, the Teamsters are providing resources to help with the planning of activities at local unions and workplaces...
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