Albuquerque YRC drivers reach 19M accident, injury-free miles

Albuquerque YRC drivers are honored for their achievement.

YRC Freight recently held an employee safety ceremony to celebrate two years of accident-free driving by its Albuquerque, N.M. drivers. It’s a continuation of an all-time YRC company record, marking a total of 19 million consecutive accident and injury-free miles by all 85 Albuquerque line drivers.

The company presented the specially designed and updated trailer saluting the drivers' achievement at the celebration, which proudly includes the names of all the drivers and the logos of the New Mexico Teamsters and the IBT.

The trailer was originally presently last September at the 15 million mile celebration, when each driver received a die-cast replica of the equipment and tee-shirts commemorating the amazing accomplishment. In January 2015 drivers reached the 19 million mark and the trailer was updated to reflect that.

As of last September, 35% of these YRC Teamster drivers had driven one million miles or more, two had driven over 4 million miles, two over 3 million miles and 27 drivers had worked more than 25 years injury free.

The IBT and Local 492 are very proud of our brothers at YRC and wish to congratulate them on this amazing record. And thanks to Local 492 for the heads up!

Today's Teamster News 01.28.15

Teamsters
Robert Morales  IBT   ...We are saddened to report the death of Robert Morales, who passed away on January 26, 2015...
Credentialing Crunch  American Legion   ...Starting this winter, the Teamsters – with logistical support and backing from The American Legion – will begin offering civilian CDL training to enlisted military truck drivers. The training-to-placement program will set up shop on military bases and offer drivers the opportunity to earn their civilian CDLs before they are discharged...
Turbulance Ahead At Allegiant Air As Pilots Prepare For Strike  Global Travel Industry News   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will host a call to update Allegiant Travel Company investors, industry analysts, customers and press regarding the current status of contract negotiations for Allegiant Air pilots, their recent strike authorization vote and the union's request for a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board...
Teamsters Protest Labatt Beer At NHL All-Star Game  teamster.org   ...At the National Hockey League’s All-Star Game on Sunday, Teamsters who work at Heidelberg Distributing provided information to fans about anti-worker behavior by the company, which distributes Labatt Beer products in Ohio...
Leaked Memo: YRC Seeks To Outsource Unprofitable Runs  Kansas City Business Journal   ...A Dec. 18, 2014, memo obtained by the Kansas City Business Journal, details a change-of-operations request to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that would allow the company to increase its use of interline carriers — third-party transportation providers — in areas currently served by YRC Worldwide Inc. employees...
Trade
TTIP Is Sputtering, But Other 'Trade' Deals Threaten Our Sovereignty  Ecologist   ...So far the talks have achieved little in terms of reaching agreement for specific market sectors. And they are facing increasing scepticism because of TTIP's plans to deregulate goods and services like health through 'harmonisation' of EU and US standards - something that in practice usually means levelling down...
Anti-Trade Deal Protesters Hijack Senate TPP Hearing  RT   ...Protesters opposed to a major, multi-national trade deal being negotiated in secret by a dozen countries – including the United States – hijacked a US Senate hearing early Tuesday to speak out against the proposal. Capitol Police removed no fewer than three demonstrators Tuesday morning during testimony delivered before the Senate Committee on Finance by US Trade Representative Michael Froman concerning the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP...
State Battles
Ky. attorney talks right-to-work  Politico   ...The conservative push to pass right-to-work ordinances at the county level has as its ultimate aim passage of right-to-work at the state level, according to Warren County, Kentucky’s public attorney...
Union says it won’t stand by as GOP attacks collective bargaining  Las Vegas Sun   ...Republicans are attacking working families with their proposals to upend collective bargaining in Nevada, Danny Thompson, executive vice treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said at a press conference this morning...
War on Workers
Middle Class Shrinks Further As More Fall Out Instead Of Climbing Up  New York Times   ...In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the middle, earning, in today’s dollars, $35,000 to $100,000 a year. Few people noticed or cared as the size of that group began to fall, because the shift was primarily caused by more Americans climbing the economic ladder into upper-income brackets. But since 2000, the middle-class share of households has continued to narrow, the main reason being that more people have fallen to the bottom...
This Map Reveals Just How Unequal The So-Called Recovery Is  Huffington Post   ...In 39 U.S. states, the top 1 percent of earners gobbled up at least half of all of the income gains between 2009 and 2012. And in 17 of those states, the top earners got every bit of the income growth in those years...
Wall Street's Threat To The American Middle Class (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Presidential aspirants in both parties are talking about saving the middle class. But the middle class can't be saved unless Wall Street is tamed. The Street's excesses pose a continuing danger to average Americans. And its ongoing use of confidential corporate information is defrauding millions of middle-class investors. Yet most presidential aspirants don't want to talk about taming the Street because Wall Street is one of their largest sources of campaign money...
Miscellaneous
CBO: Deficit To Narrow, Then Widen In ’18  Wall Street Journal   ...Existing budget restraints and stronger economic growth will chip away at the federal deficit into 2017 before the gap begins to widen again, the Congressional Budget Office said, providing ammunition for both parties ahead of the White House’s first budget proposal to the Republican-controlled Congress...

Today's Teamster News 01.08.15

Teamsters
New contracts approved for police, crossing guards  TribLive   ...McKeesport city council on Wednesday unanimously approved three-year contracts with Teamsters Local 205 on behalf of city police officers and crossing guards...
Bogeyman Of Credit Crisis Needs Reform To Align Risks And Responsibilities In CDS Market  The Conversation   ...In 2009, US trucking company YRC Worldwide faced ruin as it struggled to restructure its debt. With tens of thousands of jobs at stake, the Teamsters union, led by James Hoffa, accused some YRC bondholders of sabotaging restructuring negotiations by purchasing credit default swaps (CDS) on their debt...
Everett Lee Jones  roanoke.com   ...Everett Lee "Pete" Jones, 81, of Blue Ridge, went to be with the Lord on Monday, January 5, 2015. Staff Sergeant Jones was Honorable Discharged from the United States Air Force after serving four years as Crew Chief on B-47 Bombers where he was recognized by both his Wing and Squadron Commanders for Outstanding Performance. He was also a member of the American Legion. Pete was a member of Teamsters Local 592 in Richmond and drove for Mason Dixon where he was awarded the 1,000,000 mile Safety Record for driving without an accident...
Trade
Obama touts auto bailout success, Michigan worries about trade  Reuters   ...President Barack Obama, on a trip to unveil elements of his State of the Union address, took a victory lap in Michigan on Wednesday to tout his support of the auto industry, but concerns about trade policies hung in the background of his tour...
Our View: Huge trade deal needs congressional and public scrutiny  Bennington Banner   ...Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders is sounding an alarm about the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge proposed trade deal that has been in process for about 10 years...
State Battles
Kentucky Senate puts right-to-work bill on fast track; House expected to balk  kentucky.com   ...A state Senate committee on Wednesday put on the fast track a bill that would allow people to work for unionized employers without joining the union, but the measure is expected to die in the House...
Indiana Lawmakers Push For Increasing Minimum Wage To $10.10 An Hour  WXIN   ...“We still have a minority out there and although we may be few in number, somebody has to speak for them,” said State Senator Karen Tallian. Tallian authored Senate Bill 41 (SB41). If passed, it would boost Indiana’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour....
Kansas Is Totally Screwed  Mother Jones   ...As further tax cuts phase in over time—the state's income tax rate, which has already fallen from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent, is set to fall another point by 2018—the gap between spending commitments and revenue will only grow more dire. For fiscal year 2016, which starts in July, state legislators will need to slash an additional $650 million, according to the legislature's research office. Standard & Poor's and Moody's, two of the top three credit-ratings agencies, downgraded the state's credit rating last year due to the budget woes...
War on Workers
Time To Get Real On Jobs, Wages, And Growth (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Most Americans -- 99 percent of them or so -- are still struggling. Economic inequality is soaring, social mobility is declining, earnings at most income levels are stagnant or falling, and the percentage of working-age Americans who are actually working is at a record low...
The Massive Retirement Gap For CEOs Versus Workers  CBS News   ...On average, Americans have saved only about $58,000 for their retirements, BlackRock found... CEO pensions at the 10 biggest U.S. companies are on average 239 times larger than the average employee's 401(k) balances for those same businesses...
On Day One, The New Congress Launches An Attack On Social Security  Los Angeles Times   ...As one of its first orders of business upon convening Tuesday, the Republican House of Representatives approved a rule that will seriously undermine efforts to keep all of Social Security solvent...
Keystone XL Pipeline's Gift: 42,000 Jobs (opinion)  Chicago Tribune   ...Let the construction begin, and see the benefits to local communities as they absorb the more than $2 billion in worker payments from Keystone XL jobs. Let the construction begin and offer men and women new job opportunities. Let these new employees put their skills to work and use their earnings to buy cars and clothes, to pay for college tuition or a family vacation. Communities along the pipeline route will also see property tax revenues increase substantially; revenues that will pay for better schools, parks, libraries and infrastructure...
Third worker dies of injuries from Oklahoma rig fire  Petro Global News   ...A rig fire at an Oklahoma drilling site claimed a third life last weekend after a worker burned in the explosion succumbed to his injuries...
Miscellaneous
How $50 Oil Changes Almost Everything  Bloomberg   ...The biggest collapse in energy prices since the 2008 global recession is shifting wealth and power from autocratic petro-states to industrialized consumers, which could make the world safer, according to a Berenberg Bank AG report...
Uber Bases Suspended After Refusing To Hand Over Trip Records  New York Post   ...The agency needs the data to make decisions that will affect the taxi industry, as well as investigate passenger complaints. “This data has very real significance to policy, and also to the safety of the riding public,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg...
ADP Says Companies In U.S. Added 241,000 Workers In December  Bloomberg News   ...Companies added more workers than forecast in December, indicating the U.S. job market was sustaining strength as 2014 drew to a close, according to a private report based on payrolls. The 241,000 increase in employment was the biggest since June and followed a 227,000 November gain that was more than initially reported...

Today's Teamster News 09.16.14

Teamster News
Leaked memo: YRC tweaks discipline policy; union takes exception  Kansas City Business Journal   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is taking exception to a new discipline policy at YRC Worldwide Inc., according to a leaked internal memo...
St. Charles City Council OKs 4-year Teamsters union contract  My Suburban Life   ...The contract is for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 330. The union represents 54 employees in the departments of public works, finance and community development...
Trade
Trade Deals Set Their Sights on Public Workers (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Under the guise of crafting trade agreements, big business -- which bankrolled many of those same elected officials -- is looking to impose provisions across the globe that open up government services to the private sector. Other language would limit the ability of democratic governments to regulate in the public interest...
Teamsters, others protest World Bank hearing on Pacific Rim's right to mine El Salvador  TeamsterNation   ...a protest was held in front of the World Bank by Teamsters and others who don't think multinationals should be able to override the laws of a sovereign nation...
State Battles
Here's What Happened When 13 States Raised Their Minimum Wages  New Republic   ...job growth was higher in states that raised their minimum wages than it was in those that didn’t...
MDOC Wants New Private Prison Contracts  Jackson Free Press   ...The MDOC and the private firms managing the agency's prisons have come under intense scrutiny in recent years. East Mississippi, which houses the state's prisoners with the most acute mental illnesses, is currently the subject of a class-action lawsuit that alleges inmates' health needs are often ignored...
This Is What Happens When Chicago Privatizes School Janitorial Services  Addicting Info   ...One Southwest Side elementary principal — who along with others did not want her name printed for fear of retribution — said in a telephone interview that since Aramark took over the school, it has developed a problem with bugs and rodents that are feasting on garbage and on spilled drops of milk on floors that aren’t being cleaned enough, she said...
Illinois, Michigan move ahead on high-speed rail  Associated Press   ...If you’re looking for high-speed rail with a Chicago connection, don’t look toward Wisconsin. Two high-speed train sets that originally were set to connect Chicago with Milwaukee and Madison, and eventually Minneapolis, look like they’re headed to Michigan instead...
‘A Big, Big Mistake’ In Voter ID Case (opinion)  New York Times   ...Mr. Hasen predicted that the appeals court’s ruling itself could well be stayed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that last-minute changes risk introducing electoral chaos...
Sinquefield donates $1.2 million to MO Club for Growth PAC  Missouri Times   ...In March, the group received $973,000.00 from Sinquefield, making the total contribution from the businessman to the group now $2,173,000.00...
Illinois is labor’s next big battleground  MSNBC   ...This year, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is squaring off against a Republican challenger who has made opposition to the labor movement into a central plank of his campaign. Bruce Rauner, a venture capitalist, has promised to establish “right-to-work” zones in Illinois if elected and dramatically revise the state’s public employee retirement system...
Income Inequality Is Hurting State Tax Revenue, Report Says  Washington Post   ...The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has been matched by a slowdown in state tax revenue, according to a report being released Monday by Standard and Poor’s...
Conservative Experiment Faces Revolt In Reliably Red Kansas  New York Times   ...Mr. Brownback’s proudly conservative policies have turned out to be so divisive and his tax cuts have generated such a drop in state revenue that they have caused even many Republicans to revolt. Projections put state budget shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually, raising questions of whether the state can adequately fund education in particular...
Koch Brothers' Dollars To Scott  Sarasota Herald Tribune   ...The latest campaign finance reports show Koch Industries and national pro-school voucher advocate Jack R. Anderson combined to give Gov. Rick Scott’s political action committee $75,000 in August to help him win re-election. That came on top of a $4.5 million check given to Scott’s campaign from the Republican Governors Association since Aug. 19...
Exclusive: New Jersey unloads investment related to Charlie Baker 'pay-to-play' allegations  Fortune   ...The New Jersey Division of Investments has quietly sold its stake in a venture capital fund managed by General Catalyst Partners, following allegations of impropriety related to a political contribution from General Catalyst “executive-in-residence” and current Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker...
War On Workers
Oil Trains Move Across Dozens Of Missouri Counties  Columbia Daily Tribune   ...Railroads have been hauling more than a dozen trains weekly through Missouri carrying volatile crude oil from the Northern Plains that has been involved in multiple fiery accidents, according to railroad disclosures released Thursday...
Pool Worker Dies in Pool  WJHG   ...27 year old Ryan Cook of Chipley and a co-worker were replacing the wiring for the pool lights at a home on North Lagoon Drive around 9 am Monday morning...
Google Report Shows Governments’ Increasing Demands for Users’ Data  New York Times   ...The roughly 32,000 requests Google fielded in the first six months of 2014 were up 15 percent from the previous six months, and up 150 percent since the company started publishing its transparency report in 2009...
Union ends strike after reaching agreement with Lear  NWI.com   ...A tentative agreement has ended a strike at the Lear Corp. automotive seat factory in Hammond, a day after workers walked off the job...
UBER DRIVERS PROTEST: 'You Can't Make A Living Working Only For Uber'  Business Insider   ...Uber's steep discounts, intended to give the company a competitive edge over competitors like Lyft and Gett, as well as yellow cabs, are hurting Uber drivers...
Miscellaneous
New Social Network For “Elites” Has $9,000 Membership Fee   GovtSlaves   ...Are you a 1-percenter who needs a safe social media outlet to talk about your first-world problems, without the risk of alienating your commoner friends? Now you have an alternative to the impoverished unwashed masses of Facebook. Enter Netropolitan.club, an exclusive digital country club — essentially, Facebook for rich people...

Today's Teamster News 07.16.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Propose End To Potential $283M Executive Pay Give-Away At McKesson  IBT   ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy advisor, announced its recommendation that McKesson shareholders vote ‘FOR’ Item #6 on the company proxy to support a Teamster-sponsored proposal that urges the company to address the automatic accelerated vesting of equity awards in the event of a change of control and termination...
YRC, Teamsters Sign Off On New Board Member  Kansas City Business Journal   ...William "Bob" Davidson will join YRC Worldwide. Late Friday, the Overland Park-based less-than-truckload carrier (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the union-nominated company-approved Davidson will join YRC's nine-member board...
Events July 17-20 To Commemorate 80th Anniversary Of 1934 Teamsters Strike  Twin Cities Daily Planet   ...Events planned for four days July 17-20 will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Minneapolis Teamsters strikes of 1934. considered the most significant single labor event in Minnesota history. Films, music, speeches, a march, a street festival, a picnic and a lecture by the author of a new book about the 1934 strike will be featured. Event organizers also have reached out to descendants of 1934 strikers to include them in 80th anniversary events...
Oxford Deputies To Picket Courthouse Tuesday To Protest Wages  Oxford Hills Sun Journal   ...Oxford County Sheriff's deputies are expected to picket in front of the courthouse on Western Avenue on Tuesday morning to draw attention to their labor dispute with the county. Deputies are asking for a contract, higher wages and a reinstatement of border patrols, according to Ray Cote, Teamsters Local 340 representative...
GET Bus Strike Starts At 12:01 A.M. Tuesday  Bakersfield Californian   ...With no breakthrough in sight Monday, a six-month-old labor dispute pushed Bakersfield to the brink of its first bus strike in 34 years. The union representing 257 bus drivers and mechanics at Golden Empire Transit District said its members walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday after failing to reach agreement with management on raises and some drivers' classification...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to meet again in August on TPP  Japan Times   ...Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to settle as soon as possible the disputes standing in the way of finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreeing to hold talks again next month, Japanese officials said...
Dems Push to Delay Trans-Pacific Partnership Until After Elections  New American   ...Democrats in Congress are pumping the brakes on negotiations of a multinational trade pact, worried that a significant bloc of their base would leave the party should the agreement be approved before the November elections...
State Battles
Activists Pitch L.A. Ballot Measure For Citywide $15 Minimum Wage  Los Angeles Times   ...A coalition of activists has taken the first step in a campaign for a $15 minimum wage for workers across Los Angeles, drafting language for a ballot measure that would follow in the footsteps of a boost recently approved in Seattle...
Obama admin to join voting rights cases in Ohio and Wisconsin  MSNBC   ...The moves would represent the first time that Holder’s Justice Department has intervened against statewide voting laws outside the areas that the Supreme Court freed from federal oversight in last year’s Shelby County v. Holder ruling...
War On Workers
The Inverted World of Mobile Capital  Project Syndicate   ...A growing number of American companies are seeking to move their legal headquarters abroad by acquiring or merging with foreign companies...
A Push to Give Steadier Shifts to Part-Timers  New York Times   ...The recent, rapid spread of on-call employment to retail and other sectors has prompted proposals that would require companies to pay employees extra for on-call work and to give two weeks’ notice of a work schedule...
Debt Collection 'Factory' Preyed On Broke Americans: Lawsuit  Huffington Post   ...A federal watchdog is suing a collection agency that allegedly operated like a "factory" churning out lawsuits against cash-strapped borrowers, often using misleading, deceptive and illegal practices...
The Staples Boycott: A Big Teachers Union Gets on Board  Wall Street Journal   ...“Postal workers are the most amazing public servants,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. “Who does Staples really want and need to come into its stores every single day? Teachers. The best way we can help is if we say to Staples: ‘You do this to the postal workers, and we aren’t buying supplies in your stores.’”...
A Tale Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ In Higher Education  New York Times   ...to varying degrees, the predicament of unaccountable colleges overseen by ineffective accreditors exists nationwide...
Miscellaneous
Germany's plan to take on NSA: Block eavesdroppers with classical music, and use typewriters  Telegraph   ...Politicians in Germany have devised an ingenious solution to combat the threat of eavesdropping by American spies: playing classical music during their meetings...
Senators Blast NCAA, ESPN In Review Of College Athletics  Roll Call   ...Senators hammered NCAA President Mark Emmert on July 9, as questions about student-athlete compensation, graduation rates, health care and sexual assault took center stage. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., kicked off by (saying) ... There’s a growing perception that college athletics, particularly Division I football and basketball, are not avocations at all. What they really are is highly profitable commercial enterprises.”...

Today's Teamster News 04.22.14

Teamster News
Memo: Teamsters urge 'no' vote on YRC compensation package  Kansas City Business Journal   ...Leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are asking YRC shareholders to vote against a number of proposals concerning executive compensation at YRC Worldwide Inc...
Mayor Tom Coyne Seeks Cut In Brook Park's Workforce  Cleveland.com   ...Mayor Tom Coyne is trying to cut his staff's size and pay. Council has given him mixed support, approving a pay freeze on April 15 for non-union workers but rejecting a pact demoting several supervisors represented by the Teamsters...
Trade
Free Trade On Steroids: The Threat Of The Trans-Pacific Partnership  Los Angeles Times   ...Many supporters of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade agreement are arguing that its fate rests on President Obama's bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan this week...
State Battles
Wisconsin Bargaining Law Doesn't Breach Unions' Constitutional Rights, Court Affirms  Bloomberg BNA   ...A controversial law enacted in 2011 that provides that most public employee unions can bargain with state and local government employers over base wages only and eliminates payroll deductions for union dues doesn't violate the unions' First Amendment or 14th Amendment rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled April 18...
How The Koch Brothers' Greenback Influences Green Jobs, Clean Energy Debate  Bangor Daily News   ...Just last month the Maine Heritage Policy Center and the Beacon Hill Institute, housed at Suffolk University in Boston, released a new study attacking Maine's efforts to promote public health and mitigate climate change...
ALEC And The Koch Brothers Fight Solar Energy With Surcharges  Digital Journal   ...Citizens across the United States are attempting to break free of the fossil fuel industry and do what state and federal governments are unwilling to do by installing solar panels...
UAW Withdraws Objections To Chattanooga VW Vote  Nashville Business Journal   ...The National Labor Relations Board was to hold its hearing today on February's unionization vote at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant, but the UAW has instead withdrawn its objections...
War On Workers
Who Are the Koch Brothers and What Do They Want?  Huffington Post   ...For the Koch brothers, spending more than Obama and Romney combined would be a drop in their bucket. They would hardly miss the few billion dollars...
For Many Americans, 'Temp' Work Becomes Permanent Way Of Life  NBC News   ...For Americans who can't find jobs, the booming demand for temp workers has been a path out of unemployment, but now many fear it's a dead-end route...
Union Target: For-Profits  Inside Higher Ed   ...A relatively small group of New York City teachers' announcement that they'd received a collective bargaining agreement with their school might have gone unnoticed last week, but for one significant detail: their employer is Kaplan, Inc, a major player in for-profit higher education...
The Decline Of Labor Unions And The Rise Of The Minimum Wage  Seattle Times   ...In February, a bitterly divided local Machinists union at Boeing, narrowly voted to accept the company's contract extension to build the 777X airplanes...
NCAA Faces Change, Legal Challenges In Months Ahead  CNN   ...When training camps for big-time college football teams open in August, behemoth linemen and other players will get their first taste of how much food Division I schools can provide their athletes. In short, as much as they want...

Today's Teamster News 01.29.14

Labor unions pack Pa. Capitol over paycheck bill  Associated Press   ...Labor unions packed the Pennsylvania Capitol for a raucous rally Tuesday as they widened their fight over legislation that aims to prevent the state, school districts and local governments from deducting union dues and political action committee contributions from the paychecks of unionized workers…"If you watched what happened in Wisconsin and Michigan, it was far too late when it got to the House," William Hamilton, president of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters, told the packed rally. "We're on time."...
Pennsylvania Think Tank Plans to 'Slay' Unions, Like in Wisconsin  The Nation   ...The Commonwealth Foundation is one of a fifty-nine-state network of similar think tanks that have vastly expanded since 2009. The letter makes clear that conservatives believe that right-wing political infrastructure—the organizing institutes, the partisan media outlets, the rapid response efforts—has helped turn the tide against labor unions...
YRC Says Pact With Teamsters Satisfies Refinancing Conditions  Wall Street Journal   ...YRC Worldwide Inc. YRCW +13.45%  on Tuesday said its new contract with the Teamsters satisfied conditions that enable the company to complete a refinancing agreement critical to stabilizing the company...
Sabreliner under new management  St. Louis Post-Dispatch .  ..Sabreliner Corp. is under new management, and its employees are left with a lot of questions. Seventy of the workers are represented by Teamsters Local 600...
Happy horses have jobs: Column  USA Today   ...the mayor is not only putting 300 or so New Yorkers out of work. He is also pushing a policy to which even the horses themselves might object...
NYC carriage drivers say electric cars not like horses  USA Today   ...Conor McHugh, 49, a father of three who lives in Congers, N.Y., stressed: "We're not in a position to experiment with how to make a living."...
The Techtopus: How Silicon Valley’s most celebrated CEOs conspired to drive down 100,000 tech engineers’ wages  Pando News   ...In early 2005, as demand for Silicon Valley engineers began booming, Apple’s Steve Jobs sealed a secret and illegal pact with Google’s Eric Schmidt to artificially push their workers wages lower by agreeing not to recruit each other’s employees, sharing wage scale information, and punishing violators...
Let Banks Fail Is Iceland Mantra as 2% Joblessness in Sight  Bloomberg   ...Iceland let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save. Now, the island is finding crisis-management decisions made half a decade ago have put it on a trajectory that’s turned 2 percent unemployment into a realistic goal...
One-Third of Americans Who Were Middle Class in 2008 Now Consider Themselves Lower or Lower Middle Class  Mother Jones   ...A third of the people who identified as middle class in 2008 now identify as lower middle or lower class. And that happened in a mere six years...
The cities where the American Dream goes to die  Salon ...The tale of two Americas: Upward mobility varies drastically if you grow up in Charlotte versus San Francisco...
“We’re gonna lose everything”: One family’s urgent unemployment insurance story  Salon   ...Kerstin, one of 1.6 million now without jobless benefits, opens up about skipping meals and canceling Christmas...
Almost Half The Country Wants To Boot Their Own Member Of Congress  Huffington Post ... Nearly half of Americans believe their own member of Congress unworthy of reelection, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll...
West Virginia’s Chemical Spill Was Larger Than Previously Reported, Company Reveals  ThinkProgress The West Virginia DEP says they still aren't certain how much chemical spilled into the Elk River...
Don’t be surprised if your TV soon seems to know everything about your politics  Washington Post   ...You're probably aware that much of your online behavior is tracked, logged and probably sold to third parties so that marketers can better target you with ads because Internet browsing generates a wealth of useful data that's easily studied. Television is a bit of a different story...
Grad Students Reunionize  In These Times   ...Graduate student employees at New York University have pulled off a first in the world of labor rights—for the second time, by voting to unionize, making NYU the only private university to recognize a graduate-employee union...
College football players want to join union  CNNMoney   ...Football players at Northwestern University are seeking to join a labor union, according to the National College Players Association, which wants to be the first union to represent college athletes...
Ill. labor unions sue over plan to cut pensions  Associated Press   ...Illinois labor unions have filed a lawsuit seeking a new plan to reduce the state’s $100 billion pension shortfall declared unconstitutional...

Today's Teamster News 01.27.14

Teamsters at YRCW Approve Agreement Aimed At Saving 30,000 Jobs  teamster.org   ...Teamsters at YRCW approved this latest proposal by a vote of 12,267 to 6,314...
 YRC Wins Key Refinancing Ingredient With Teamsters Vote  Bloomberg   ...YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) has the “key ingredient” to refinance $1.4 billion of debt and reduce the risk of bankruptcy after workers voted to accept labor concessions, Chief Executive Officer James Welch said...
Report: Bucking trend, Wisconsin union membership grows  LaCrosse Tribune   ...Wisconsin’s union membership rate -- the percentage of wage and salary workers who belong to unions -- rose from 11.25 percent to 12.34 percent, the seventh biggest gain in the nation. This after 2012, when Wisconsin had the third largest decrease in the nation. The change came as a surprise to union leaders and academics alike...
Don't fast track a polluters' bill of rights  Friends of the Earth   ...TPP and TTIP would allow foreign investors to seek awards of money damages from business-friendly tribunals in compensation for the cost of complying with environmental and consumer regulations -- even the “cost” of lost opportunities for future profits...
FL Cheerleader: We Are Paid Less than $5/hr and Docked Pay if We Gain 5 lbs.  Alternet   ..."Raiderettes are required to attend all of the Raiders' preseason, regular season and postseason home football games," she says in the lawsuit. "They are also required to attend and participate in all practices, rehearsals, fittings, preparations, drills, photo sessions, meetings and workouts, as determined and directed by the Raiders." Raiderettes also have to attend other special events to represent the Raiders, without pay...
Does America need unions? An ex-Wall Streeter says yes  Los Angeles Times   ...without unions, workers don't have the bargaining power necessary to stop employers from paying them as little as the market will allow...
401(k) Breaches Undermining Retirement Security for Millions  Portside   ...A large and growing share of American workers are tapping their retirement savings accounts for non-retirement needs, raising broad questions about the effectiveness of one of the most important savings vehicles for old age...
Snowden: The NSA is also engaged in industrial espionage  Salon   ...“If there is information at Siemens that they think would be beneficial to the national interests, not the national security, of the United States, they will go after that information and they’ll take it...”
The Koch Party (opinion)  New York Times   ...Only a few weeks into this midterm election year, the right-wing political zeppelin is fully inflated with secret cash and is firing malicious falsehoods at supporters of health care reform...
Iowa View: ALEC's strategy of secrecy is wrong for Iowa taxpayers  DesMoines Register   ... there are deceptive organizations with friendly names lurking around the Capitol in Des Moines and in other state capitols. Some of these organizations aren’t as friendly as they seem, and their agendas are not always what’s best for Iowa. One such organization is the American Legislative Exchange Council, commonly known as ALEC...
W. Va. company ordered to remove tanks after spill  Associated Press   ...West Virginia's governor on Saturday ordered the company at the center of a chemical spill that tainted the state capital's water supply to remove all above-ground storage tanks from the Charleston operation...

Today's Teamster News 01.21.14

Teamsters to review new agreement with YRC  RecordOnline   ...A committee of Teamsters local officials will meet Tuesday to decide whether workers will vote on a new proposed contract with YRC Worldwide...
Vogel: Galloping to ban NYC horse-drawn carriages (opinion)  AMNewYork   ...With so many urgent issues facing the city, why did Mayor Bill de Blasio make getting rid of New York's iconic horse-drawn carriages his first priority?...
People Pressure Is Making Fast Tracking the TPP Politically Toxic  TruthDig   ...After four years of secret negotiations with more than 600 corporate advisers, the once seemingly invincible largest trade bill in history, covering 40% of the world’s economy , looks very much like it can be defeated...
Supreme Court to hear 1st Amendment challenge to labor unions  Los Angeles Times   ...The Supreme Court will hear a 1st Amendment case this week involving Chicago-area in-home care providers that could end up dealing a major blow to public-sector labor unions...
Oxfam: 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world  The Guardian   ...The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn (£60.88tn), or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world, added the development charity, which fears this concentration of economic resources is threatening political stability and driving up social tensions...
UN: More than 200 million jobless last year  Associated Press   ...an estimated 201.8 million people were unemployed in 2013. That's 4.9 million more than the previous year. An annual ILO report points to an uneven global economic recovery and says East and South Asia together accounted for more than 45 percent of last year's increase…
The Global Fight Against Corporate Rule  The Nation   ...Until three decades ago, governments could pass laws to protect consumers, workers, health, the environment and domestic firms with little threat of outside legal challenge from corporations. All that changed when corporations started acquiring the “right” to sue governments over actions—including public interest regulations—that reduce the value of their investments. These rights first appeared in little-known bilateral investment treaties...
Many Baby Boomers Reluctant to Retire  Gallup   ...While the average age at which U.S. retirees say they retired has risen steadily from 57 to 61 in the past two decades, boomers -- the youngest of whom will turn 50 this year -- will likely extend it even further. Nearly half (49%) of boomers still working say they don't expect to retire until they are 66 or older, including one in 10 who predict they will never retire...
2 dead, all others accounted for in Neb. explosion  Associated Press   ...Omaha officials say two people are dead and all other workers are accounted for in the animal feed plant that exploded. The explosion Monday morning brought down part of the International Nutrition plant. Two people were killed and 10 others seriously hurt…
Corporations Hoard Cash While Americans Go Without A Job  Economic Populist   ...corporate taxes are at a 60 year low...
New Accusations Against Freedom Industries in West Virginia Spill  Bloomberg   ... a local water utility has accused Freedom Industries, the chemical supplier blamed for the leak in Charleston, of trying to pull a fast one in its federal bankruptcy filing...
Real Supporters of the "Free Market" Do Not Believe that Companies Can Pollute Drinking Water With Impunity  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...Freedom Industries, will largely escape responsibility for the damage it caused with its actions since it declared bankruptcy. This means that the victims of the spill were effectively forced to give money to Freedom Industries. This is antithetical to free market principles...
House bill an attack on unions (opinion)  Standard Speaker   ...There is a bill pending in the Pennsylvania Legislature that if passed, would destroy unions and the middle class as we know them. House Bill 1507 would prohibit unions from having dues collected by any public employer...

Today's Teamster News 01.18.14

Teamsters Announce Tentative Agreement With YRCW  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union announced today that it reached a tentative agreement with YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) that, if ratified by the membership, will provide a pathway for substantial debt reduction and refinancing initiatives that will permit the company to protect and preserve more than 30,000 good American jobs...
Teamsters and YRC hammer out new offer  The Kansas City Star   ...The new proposal will be presented Tuesday to leaders of the many Teamsters locals that represent YRC’s 26,000 union employees throughout the country...
YRC Agrees to Revised Labor Accord With Teamsters Leaders  Bloomberg News   ...YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW:US) and Teamsters union leaders reached a revised labor accord that would pave the way for refinancing the trucking company’s $1.4 billion debt and staving off default. The shares surged...
Teamsters Celebrate King’s Legacy  teamster.org   ...Teamsters across the country will honor the legacy of civil rights and labor leader Martin Luther King Jr. on January 20th...
How Walmart Organizers Turned the Internet Into a Shop Floor  In These Times   ...Walmart workers and organizers prove ‘clicktivism’ can evolve into offline activism...
Leaked Walmart Documents Reveal Propaganda Campaign to Fight Workers Attempting to Organize AlterNet   ...The mega-retailer misinforms and tells managers to tattle on employees who discuss organizing...
Missouri ALEC Co-Chair on Wages in RTW States: “Sure They Go Down” (VIDEO) We Party Patriots   ...In a video unveiled by Progress Missouri, State Senator/ALEC Co-chair Ed Emery admits that “Right-to-Work” laws would mean lower wages for Missourians. But don’t get your hopes up: this is a gotcha moment, not a rejection of anti-worker policy...
AB InBev, KKR in talks on $4.5 billion Oriental Brewery deal  Reuters   ...Anheuser-Busch InBev SA is in advanced discussions to buy South Korea's Oriental Brewery from private equity owners KKR & Co LP and Affinity Equity Partners for more than $4.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter...
U.S. Steps Up Scrutiny of Freight Train Safety  New York Times   ...After meeting with federal regulators on Thursday, officials from the rail and petroleum industries agreed to examine quick ways to improve the safety of freight trains carrying crude oil following a spate of fiery accidents in recent months...
Safety violations found at another Freedom chemical facility  Salon   ...The company responsible for contaminating West Virginia’s tap water had been improperly storing chemicals at more than one location...
Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy  The Charlestown Gazette   ...Freedom owes $3.6 million to its top 20 unsecured creditors, according to bankruptcy documents. The company also owes more than $2.4 million in unpaid taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, and the IRS has placed at least three liens on Freedom's property, demanding payment...
Fear Is Why Workers in Red States Vote Against Their Economic Self-Interest  Truthdig   ...Last week’s massive spill of the toxic chemical MCHM into West Virginia’s Elk River illustrates another benefit to the business class of high unemployment, economic insecurity, and a safety-net shot through with holes...
Millionaire Ga. GOPer Backs Wall Street Bailout -- Not Detroit's   Talking Points Memo   ...A multi-millionaire Georgia Republican Senate candidate wanted to be clear at a recent campaign event: He's against the autoworker bailout but is for the Wall Street bailout...
How Screwing Your Workers Gets You Rated as Top 100 Places to Work  AlterNet   ...Darden Restaurants, which owns chains like Red Lobster, bought its way into a sleazy rankings list...
Amazon hosting most of the net's malware, says security firm  The Guardian   ...Report says net's large cloud providers, including Google and GoDaddy, are unknowingly harbouring ‘on-demand’ malware...
A Sneaky Path Into Target Customers’ Wallets  New York Times   ...Entering through a digital gateway, the criminals discovered that Target’s systems were astonishingly open — lacking the virtual walls and motion detectors found in secure networks like many banks’...
America's Real Welfare Queens  Truthout   ...In 2012, the average American taxpayer making $50,000 per year paid just $36 towards the food stamps program, while an average American family making $50,000 a year pays a whopping $6,000 a year in subsidies to Republican-friendly corporations...
Restricting bankers’ pay has only made them richer  Quarz   ...thanks to Goldman Sachs’s soaring stock price, its employees are sitting on $600 million … in compensation…
Patrick Replaces Secretary of Labor after Problems Surface  Boston Globe   ...Governor Deval Patrick today announced that he is replacing his state secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Joanne F. Goldstein, who had been facing questions about the troubled launch of the state’s new online jobless benefits system...
Florida blames its troubled unemployment website entirely on vendor; feds heading here to help  Miami Herald   ...Months after its debut, Florida’s $63 million unemployment benefits website is showing signs of improvement but falls far short of adequately serving claimants who depend on it...
Pennsylvania Judge Strikes Down New Voter ID Law  ThinkProgress   ...In a major victory for proponents of voting rights, a Pennsylvania judge overturned the state’s new voter identification law on Friday...
Plain Talk: Sorry, compared to Minnesotans, we made the wrong choice  The Cap Times   ...While Minnesota's economy has seen robust growth, Wisconsin's has — generously — been called sluggish. Because of differences in how health care is viewed, Minnesotans pay far less in premiums than do Badgers. There are those who contend that the Gopher State is leaving Wisconsin in its dust...
Chicago Alderwoman Proposes City Stop Doing Business With JPMorgan Chase After It Admits to Illegal Actions  Truthout   ...“The bank has violated the city code by making admissions of dishonesty and deceit in the way they dealt with their investors in the mortgage securities and Bernie Madoff Ponzi scandals,” Hairston [said]. “We use this code against city contractors and all the small companies, why wouldn’t we use this against one of the largest banks in the world,” she said...

Today's Teamster News 01.10.14

YRCW Teamsters Reject Extending, Modifying Current Restructuring Agreement  teamster.org   ...Teamsters at YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) rejected the company’s proposal that would have extended and modified the existing memorandum of understanding. Members voted over the past several weeks and ballots were counted today. The proposed extension and modification was voted down 61 percent to 39 percent...
Massive trade deal filed in Congress; you can help stop it  TeamsterNation   ...Legislation was filed today to make it easier to pass job-killing trade deals like NAFTA...
Hoffa: Fast-Track Bill Will Take Congress, Public Out of Process  teamster.org   ...the lack of transparency  in considering TPP and other trade deals will hurt not only workers but families as well...
Workers Need Government Attention Now  teamster.org   ...Middle-class jobs have dwindled due to trade deals like NAFTA...
Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus open secrets   ...For the first time in history, most members of Congress are millionaires, according to a new analysis of personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics...
15 Chris Christie Controversies You Missed  Politico   ...Using inflated cost estimates to justifying canceling the ARC tunnel...The Access to the Region’s Core tunnel was a commuter rail project that would have more than doubled the number of trains from New Jersey to Manhattan, easing congestion on the state’s notorious (especially now) highways. After initially endorsing the project, which could have created an estimated 45,000 permanent jobs and 6,000 temporary construction jobs, Christie changed his mind...
Eight Million Jobs Are Still Missing in America  Huffington Post   ...That's how many more people would have jobs today if the economy were truly healthy, according to a new study released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute...
Bank of America employs 20 full-time social media spies, watches anarchists and occupy protesters  PrivacySOS   ...the powerful financial institution employs a staff of 20 full-time social media spies, and references public-private surveillance efforts directed at activists who aim to hold banks accountable for social crises like the foreclosure disaster....
Employees at Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Can Now Tweet About Work Without Fear  In These Times   ...Thanks to a new decree by the National Labor Relations Board, however, employees can now feel free to post about their jobs to Facebook or Instagram without fear of retribution...
Food stamp cuts expected to near $9 billion  Washington Post   ...Negotiations are almost complete on a long-overdue farm bill that will set new spending levels for the federal food stamp program and add yet another wrinkle to the national debate over income inequality as Congress mulls how to help unemployed and low-wage workers...
One in three Americans slipped below the poverty line between 2009 and 2011  Washington Post   ...How many people in the United States are poor? It’s a surprisingly tricky question...
Why Poverty Is A Much Bigger Problem Than The Government Thinks  ThinkProgress   ...A massive new study from the Half in Ten Campaign and the Center for American Progress of American attitudes about work, the war on poverty, and new proposals to fight poverty in the future underscores just how bad the problem is...
No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data  ProPublica   ...The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day...
The Fed Shifts Ground on Big Banks  New York Times   ...there are signs that top officials are prepared to take a tougher stand on reining in large, complex financial institutions...
Pot Shares Rally 21% to 1,700% as Speculators See Green  Bloomberg News   ...They’ve got high hopes. The chief executive officer of Hemp Inc. (HEMP), who has seen his stock soar 205 percent to 8 cents in the last three days, says investors are suddenly bidding up marijuana companies because they want to find “the next Microsoft.”...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren demands transparency when feds settle claims against big banks  Raw Story   ...A new bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) would shine a light on corporate wrongdoing by allowing the public greater access to terms of settlements they reach with the government...
Robert King out as UW System president finalist  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Some on campus and in Madison raised questions about King’s background as a conservative politician in New York and officeholder on the American Legislative Exchange Council...
North Carolina: Battleground State  Truthout   ...First it was Wisconsin. Now it’s North Carolina that is redefining the term “battleground state.” On one side: a right-wing government enacting laws that are changing the face of the state. On the other: citizen protesters who are fighting back against what they fear is a radical takeover...
Maryland Unions Hit Jobs Jackpot with New Casinos  In These Times   ...Labor unions in the Washington, D.C. area got an early Christmas present December 20, when Maryland state officials announced their approval of a plan to build a massive MGM Resorts International casino complex just a few miles from the nation’s Capitol building...
Washington State Boeing Workers Accept Pension Concessions  The Real News Network   ...By a narrow margin, members of the Seattle area machinists union voted to accept the new contract after Boeing threatened to take the production of its new 777X aircraft out of the state...
Union pushes for certification vote at Canada Toyota plants  Reuters   ...Canada's largest private-sector union said on Wednesday it plans to hold an organization vote for about 7,000 workers at two Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc assembly plants in Ontario early this year...
Unions file lawsuits claiming Alberta labour legislation violates Charter of Rights and Freedoms  Edmondton Journal   ...The Alberta government used Bill 46 as a “trump card” that coloured its negotiations with the province’s largest public-sector union, a provincial labour board hearing was told Wednesday...

Today's Teamster News 01.09.13

Jim Hoffa on How Fast Track Will Harm Working Families  The Ed Show   ...Check out the January 7 interview with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa discussing fast-track legislation on MSNBC's The Ed Show...
Madison, Wisconsin, unions near deals  Portage Daily Register   ...The city is close to finalizing labor agreements with all three of the unions, including Teamsters Local 695 in Madison, Wisconsin, that represent city employees...
Hampton, Franklin County talk shared law communications  Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier   ...Hampton and Franklin County have taken another step forward to sharing communication services. The issue of transferring employees, including members of Teamsters Local 238, stalled negotiations last summer...
Dixfield Board of Selectmen chairman responds to union's grievance  River Valley Sun Journal   ...During a recent meeting, the town of Dixfield, Maine's Board of Selectmen Chairman Mac Gill read a prepared statement in response to the prohibitive practice complaint that Teamsters Local 340 filed against the town, claiming that they had showed discrimination and bad-faith bargaining during negotiations with the Public Works Department...
YRC Worldwide Looking to Borrow More Than $1 Billion to Stay Afloat  Truckinginfo.com   ...The financially troubled parent of several trucking companies, including YRC Freight, hopes to borrow $1.15 billion to refinance its debt...
Congress members urge Obama to bar currency manipulation in trade pact  Detroit News   ...Six members of Congress wrote President Barack Obama on Wednesday, urging the White House to include a crackdown on currency manipulation as part of a proposed 12-nation free-trade pact...
Survey: US companies add 238K jobs, most in year  Associated Press   ...A private survey shows businesses added the most jobs in a year in December, powered by a big gain in construction jobs...
Pension freeze for 5,600 Detroit workers delayed  The Detroit News   ...Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr on Monday temporarily halted a Dec. 31 freeze of pension benefits for 5,600 non-uniform employees to give retirees and labor unions more time to negotiate in bankruptcy mediation sessions...
Feds Probe Banks For Mortgage Misdeeds After Financial Crisis  Reuters   ...Federal regulators are probing whether several big banks deliberately mispriced mortgage bonds in the years following the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the inquiry...
Borrowers Hit Social-Media Hurdles  Wall Street Journal   ...More lending companies are mining Facebook, FB +0.54%  Twitter TWTR -3.53%  and other social-media data to help determine a borrower's creditworthiness or identity, a trend that is raising concerns among consumer groups and regulators...
The Government Guide to Screwing Poor Homeowners  American Prospect   ...The expiration of federal mortgage-debt forgiveness at the end of last year means that struggling homeowners now owe unbearable amounts in taxes...
Macy’s Plans to Lay Off 2,500, Though Its Holiday Sales Were Up New York Times ...While it reported solid holiday sales on Wednesday, Macy’s also announced several cost-cutting measures, including plans to lay off 2,500 employees...
1 in 5 homeowners drowning  Housing Wire ...9.3 million U.S. residential properties were deeply underwater, or about 1 in 5 of every property with a mortgage. "Deeply underwater" is defined as worth at least 25% less than the combined loans secured by the property...Dear middle class: Welcome to poverty  AlterNet   ...With income inequality surging, the middle class is disappearing into the chasm...
This Is What Poverty Would Look Like If The GOP Had Its Way  Huffington Post   ...This week marks the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's declaration of the War on Poverty. Though far from over, and labeled a failure by Republicans who want to end it, the war has been a smashing success, a new study finds...
Soiled by the mud of the street:” Pope Francis and the Working Class  Portside ...Francis is calling for a wider struggle in the defense of the poor and working classes...
Several States Waiving Trucking Rules for Fuel Shipments  Truckinginfo.com   ...Extraordinarily cold weather in part of the U.S. has resulted in more states issuing emergency declarations, waiving mainly hours of service rules, when it comes to hauling various fuels...
"Recall Isn't the Wisconsin Way" Message Bankrolled by Koch Group  Center for Media and Democracy   ...In the final weeks of Wisconsin's 2012 recall elections, a previously-unknown group called Coalition for American Values Action flooded the state's airwaves with over $400,000 in ads that made a unique appeal: "recall is not the Wisconsin way," and to "stop the recall madness" by voting to reelect Walker...
Calls from unemployed workers overwhelm state phone system  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Unemployed workers who want to file for unemployment compensation are having trouble getting through on the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's phone lines...
Port of Seattle says it will act by June on airport-wages issue  Seattle Times   ...The Port of Seattle Commission will work toward raising wages at Sea-Tac International Airport after a judge’s ruling that SeaTac’s Proposition 1 cannot be enforced there...

Today's Teamster News 11.28.13

Teamsters YRCW Local Union Leaders to Meet on December 6  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) has called a meeting with Teamster Local Unions that represent YRCW members on December 6th to review a forthcoming proposal from YRCW that modifies the existing Restructuring Agreement that is not scheduled to expire until March 31, 2015...
United Airlines Mechanics Escalate Actions For Joint Agreement At 12 U.S. Airports  teamster.org   ...United Airlines (UAL) professional aviation mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union escalated their actions to pressure the company to live up to its promises by hand-billing UAL customers inside and outside 12 major airports around the country...
‘IKEA Hurts Families’ Campaign Featured on Leslie Marshall Show  teamster.org   ...Radio host Leslie Marshall interviews Tim Beaty, Director of Global Strategies for the Teamsters, about the ‘IKEA Hurts Families’ campaign and the ongoing lockout of 350 Teamsters by IKEA in Canada...
Union-Made in America Thanksgiving  AFL-CIO Now   ...double check your shopping list to make sure your Turkey Day fixin's are all union made in America...
'Walmart Illegally Fired Me, But I’m Still Fighting for Change This Black Friday'  Alternet   ...A Walmart worker who was fired after taking part in the longest strike ever against the corporation continues to fight for his former co-workers...
These Retailers Say No to Thanksgiving Madness  Wall Street Journal   ...Discount chain T.J. Maxx and regional department store Dillard's Inc., along with warehouse clubs and some electronics stores are holding true to tradition and waiting for Friday before kicking off the all-important holiday shopping frenzy...
The NSA is crippling America’s economy  Salon   ...many American companies have been reporting large profit losses due to the spying revelations. By some estimates, the damage to U.S. companies could run as high as $180 billion...
Pope Francis: Why are Deaths of the Homeless not a Headline but a 2-point Dow Jones rise is?   informed comment   ..."Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence," he wrote...
SeaTac $15 Minimum Wage Barely Passes In Final Vote Tally, Recount May Follow  Huffington Post   ...After weeks of careful ballot counting, officials in Washington state on Tuesday certified the results in a potentially historic vote that will create far and away the highest minimum wage in America...
For U.S. stores it is ugly out there: in more ways than one  Reuters   ...With growing online competition, weak consumer confidence and no fashion must-haves, most U.S. retailers will have to offer both big discounts and stellar service to get consumers to spend freely, according to analysts who joined Reuters reporters on visits to stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois ahead of the holiday season...
Holiday shopping: Love it or hate it, more do it online  Pew Research Center   ...Just 2% of Americans say they will shop on Thanksgiving Day itself — the majority of Americans (76%) believe stores should be closed then...
The IRS Moves to Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still a Question  ProPublica   ...The IRS and Treasury Department announced proposed guidelines clarifying the definition of political activities for social welfare nonprofits Tuesday afternoon, a move that could restrict the spending of the dark money groups that dumped more than $254 million of anonymous money into the 2012 elections...
Sriracha: judge orders partial shutdown of California factory  The Guardian   ...Claims smell sickened residents lacked 'credible evidence', said judge, but Huy Fong Foods must cease production and reduce future odours...

Today's Teamster News 11.12.13

Teamsters Union Ad Criticizes Dart On Prison Staffing, Spending  CBS Chicago   ...The Teamsters Union – representing law enforcement officers at the Cook County Sheriff’s office – has taken out a full-page newspaper ad criticizing the sheriff’s staffing and spending priorities...
YRC to Teamsters: Make a deal or else  Kansas City Business Journal   ...YRC needs the help of the Teamsters, which represent more than 25,000 of the company's 32,000 employees. The company and union are operating under a labor agreement that lasts through March 2015. YRC wants to extend the pact, which includes a range of employee concessions...
Anheuser-Busch, Local 267 Teamsters begin contract talks  Coloradoan.com   ...Anheuser-Busch/InBev and the Teamsters union are starting their first contract negotiations since InBev purchased the iconic U.S. label in 2008. That means Local 267’s Howie Dorsher is busy juggling day-to-day union operations, representing about 500 members at the Fort Collins brewery and keeping abreast of national contract talks...
Iraq Vet: Losing Home ‘Worse Than Getting Blown Up’  truthdig   ...Twenty-six year National Guardsman Jerrod Hays lost nearly half his face to a roadside bomb in Iraq. Now, like too many other Americans, he could lose his home to banks...
Amazon Teams With USPS For Sunday Delivery  Slate   ...Starting this week, the postal service will bring Amazon packages on Sundays to shoppers' doors in the Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas at no extra charge. Next year, it plans to roll out year-round Sunday delivery to Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix and other cities....
Unless Social Security Is Expanded with Increased Funding, We Face An Unprecedented Crisis of Millions of Baby Boomers In Poverty  Alternet   ...A majority of Americans, especially women and people of color, will spend their final years living in poverty in coming decades unless Social Security is improved and expanded ... and there are many fair ways to accomplish that, experts told a congressional briefing last week...
EU and US resume trade deal talks  BBC News   ...The EU and US have begun a second round of negotiations towards creating the world's biggest free-trade deal...
180,000 pounds of food recalled in E. coli scare  Salon   ...This Sunday, Glass Onion Catering of Richmond, Calif., recalled approximately 181,620 pounds of ready-to-eat salads and sandwich wraps that may be contaminated with E. coli. According to the USDA the items were produced between Sept. 23 and Nov. 6, and were sent off to distribution sites in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington...
Report: Bloomberg News Spikes Stories That Could Anger China  Slate   ...Bloomberg News editors are telling reporters that cover Chinese news that they have to tread carefully, and are reportedly spiking stories deemed too sensitive out of fear that Beijing will make it impossible for the company to continue operating in the world’s second-largest economy...
Sweden closes four prisons as number of inmates plummets  The Guardian   ...Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences...
Mexico authorities say U.S. man led kidnapping ring  Associated Press   ...Mexican authorities say a U.S. citizen who once served in the U.S. Navy and was a police officer in Texas has been detained in northern Mexico for allegedly heading a group of kidnappers...
NSA revelations unleash flood of new customers for privacy products  SFGate.com   ...the unremitting surveillance scandal could take billion dollar bites out of businesses whose stock in trade is user information — which is to say, much of the online economy today...