Teamster News
Teamsters Demand Crackdown On Cheap Korean Steel Imports Digital Journal ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and top leaders with the union's railway conference are calling on the Department of Commerce to fully weigh the concerns of the U.S. steel industry as it continues its anti-dumping probe looking at cheap imports being brought into this country by South Korea and eight other nations...
Fourth Cumberland County Union On Way? Court Related Employees Seek Membership The Sentinel ...Non-professional, court-related Cumberland County employees could receive union representation for the first time thanks to a National Labor Relations Board petition filed by Teamsters Local 776 on May 14, Chief Clerk Larry Thomas confirmed...
Hoffa Calls On House Of Representatives To Protect Highway Safety teamster.org ...“The tragic accident that claimed the life of comedian James McNair and injured many others including actor Tracy Morgan, could have been prevented had Walmart’s driver been properly rested rather than reportedly going 24 hours without a break,” Hoffa said. “...We must ensure that hours of service rules provide enough rest for drivers so cumulative fatigue doesn’t put the driving public at risk.”...
Trade
Japan Holding Up Free Trade Talks 13WHOtv.com ...a major hold up in the talks are Japan’s proposal to maintain tariffs on sensitive products like beef, dairy, wheat, rice, and pork...
State Battles
Grocery workers in California see wages shrink SFGate.com ...A new look at California's $98 billion grocery industry shows it is a microcosm of the state's wealth inequality gap. While a private-equity firm is buying Safeway for $9 billion, 1 in 3 grocery workers is on some form of public assistance. While grocery chains are cash machines for investors, nearly 1 in 5 workers has cut back on meals because he or she couldn't afford to buy food...
War On Workers
Prosecutor: Trucker in Morgan crash lacked sleep Associated Press ...The Wal-Mart truck driver from Georgia accused of triggering a crash in New Jersey that critically injured Tracy Morgan and killed another comedian had not slept for more than 24 hours, a criminal complaint said...
Regular shoppers cite Walmart's low pay and poor treatment of workers as reasons to stay away Daily Kos ...Walmart's reputation is suffering among consumers, with 28 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of Walmart, compared to just 13 percent unfavorable for Target and just six percent unfavorable for Costco. Walmart's low wages and bad treatment of its workers are registering on shoppers...
Wal-Mart's Image Problem Under Scrutiny At Annual Shareholder Meeting Al Jazeera America ...Walmart workers speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Friday said the megastore’s staffing problems and poor pay were hurting the company’s image and contributing to lagging sales. Their statement comes after a week of rallies across the country by labor activists, union representatives and workers in cities such as Chicago; Dayton, Ohio; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
What’s the Source of Soaring Corporate Profits? Stagnant Wages Washington's Blog ...once capital can no longer make profits selling goods and services and wage-earners can no longer afford to buy goods and services, the system disintegrates...
Court probes Wells’ foreclosure steps again New York Post ...How exactly do the note endorsement processes described in Wells Fargo’s controversial Home Mortgage Foreclosure Attorney Procedure Manual work? On March 12, The Post broke the news of this manual and allegations in court papers by attorney Linda Tirelli that the document provides detailed procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand. Wells Fargo denied the allegations...
Tipped Into Poverty New York Times ...When Senate Republicans recently blocked a vote to raise the federal minimum wage, they snubbed the estimated 27.8 million people who would earn more if the measure became law. The hardest hit are the roughly 3.3 million Americans who work for tips...
The US Chamber Of Secrets Moyers & Company ...The US Chamber of Commerce’s stated mission is “representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions,” but watchdog groups say the US Chamber represents the interests of a select few big industry groups that want to crush worker organizing...
The Job Market's Five-Year Recovery In 10 Charts FiveThirtyEight ...Six-and-a-half years after the Great Recession began — and five years after it officially ended the U.S. has finally surpassed its precrisis employment peak. But the job market is far from fully healed...
Miscellaneous
Student Debt Relief To Expand Wall Street Journal ...An expansion of a federal program designed to reduce payments for student-loan recipients is expected to be announced Monday by President Barack Obama, the latest push by Democrats to address concerns about rising student debt...
How Much Did Snowden Take? Not Even The NSA Really Knows Newsweek ...It was just over a year ago this week that former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked a trove of secret National Security Agency documents detailing the agency’s massive online spy program. What and how much Snowden took remains a mystery...
Showing posts with label bank fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank fraud. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
US bank hires offshore call center to lie to customers on the road to foreclosure
Counterpunch has the story about the borrower, a retired Montana accountant, and his wife, Abraham and Betty Morrow. They are suing the Bank of America for fraud. They claim the bank deliberately misled them into foreclosing on their home. One reason the couple has a shot is that Abraham took meticulous notes of his conversations with customer service representatives.
According to Counterpunch,
One early conversation took place on Dec. 8, 2009. It was with a Bank of America representative who identified himself as “Brian.” Morrow said “Brian” told him that he and his wife were locked in for a loan modification program. If they successfully made reduced trial payments for three to four months, Morrow said he was told, their loan modification would be made permanent.
After the whole thing unraveled and the Morrows filed suit, one of the defenses made by Bank of America was that, according to its records, Morrow had not spoken with anyone by the name of Brian on the date in question. On Dec. 8, 2009, the bank said, Morrow spoke with a customer service representative in India by the name of Sunil Kumar.
(The Morrows' lawyer John) Heenan later deposed Kumar by telephone. Heenan said Kumar told him, “We all use American names” when speaking with customers.
And what American name did Kumar use? “Brian,” he told Heenan.That wasn't the worst of it.
The Morrows had run into financial trouble when the buyer of their business defaulted on payments to them. They tried to modify their mortgage loan with Bank of America, but couldn't. They were told to skip payments so they'd qualify for a loan modification -- then they'd get calls from collection agencies. They submitted paperwork, then were it was lost and to resubmit it again. They were sent letters by the bank and then told by the bank's customer service representatives to ignore the letters. They applied for a loan modification and waited for 10 months before they got an answer.
And the bank's defense? Abraham Morrow had never talked to a customer service representative named Brian!
The Morrows' case now goes to trial.
Read the whole story here.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.03.14
Teamster News
Pepsi Workers Hit Picket Line WIBC ...Teamsters Local 135 Spokesman Jeff Combs says they're officially on strike. They picketed outside the Pepsi distribution facility on (Indianapolis') far northwest side. He says their last contract expired Saturday...
Teamsters Win Executive Pay Reform At Gannett teamster.org ...Yesterday, a historic executive pay reform proposal from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund became the first of its kind to receive a majority of the shares cast at a publically-traded company's annual meeting of shareholders...
Trade
US Senators Voice Doubts On Obama Trade Agenda ABC News ...Lawmakers provided a reality check Thursday to the Obama administration's optimism over its trade agenda following some progress in key negotiations with Japan...
In Colombia, Free Trade Brings More Poverty and More Killings truthout ..."In 2013, 26 trade unionists were murdered, four more than in 2012," according to the AFL-CIO. "Attempted murders also increased, from seven to 13...
State Battles
Seattle Announces $15 Minimum Wage, Highest In The U.S. Think Progress ...Seattle will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the coming years under a deal brokered by Mayor Ed Murray and blessed by labor and business groups alike...
California's Bid To Tax Companies Who Don't Share The Wealth Washington Post ...Last week, a committee of California's Senate ... recommended to the full Senate a bill that would cut the state’s taxes on companies with lower ratios between their chief executives’ pay and the pay of their median workers, and raise taxes on companies with the kind of insanely high gap between chief executive and median worker pay that has become the norm in American business...
Conservative ALEC Gathering In Kansas City Will Work On Policy And Power Kansas City Star ...When U.S. Senate Republicans blocked action this week on a bill to raise the federal minimum wage, they echoed a longstanding anti-worker, pro-business campaign by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The council, known widely as ALEC, promotes a free-market, limited-government agenda...
War On Workers
Look Who The Folks Who Took Down ACORN Are Targeting Now The Nation ...Right-wing operatives with links to big retailers going after worker centers like the Restaurant Opportunities Center....
Bankers Learn What Happens In Vegas, Can Land Back In D.C. Bloomberg Businessweek ...While the union’s ranks of maids, dishwashers, cooks and cocktail servers may not pay much attention to financial regulation, its researchers have dug deep into the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to pressure ...(Deutsche Bank AG) to the bargaining table....
Drone Operator Fined After Almost Hitting NYC Pedestrian Bloomberg ...Two weeks after a judge overturned the first U.S. fine for recklessly flying a drone, the government tested its authority again by citing the operator of an unmanned helicopter that crash-landed 20 feet from a pedestrian in New York City...
Everyone is under surveillance now, says whistleblower Edward Snowden The Guardiain ...the US government has programs in place to spy on hundreds of millions of people’s emails, social networking posts, online chat histories, browsing histories, telephone records, telephone calls and texts – “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet”, in the words of one leaked document...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Creates 288,000 Jobs In April, Unemployment Falls to 6.3% Huffington Post ...The U.S. Economy added 288,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday...
The Jobs Report Isn’t as Good as It Looks New York Times ...The number of people in the labor force fell by a whopping 806,000, wiping out the February and March gains and a bit of January as well…. Both hours worked and wages were unchanged...
Buildings collapse on K Street in Northwest Washington Washington Post ...One building completely collapsed and two others, including an adult club, were damaged Friday afternoon near Mount Vernon Square, injuring one person and snarling rush-hour traffic as firefighters investigated and searched the debris...
Pepsi Workers Hit Picket Line WIBC ...Teamsters Local 135 Spokesman Jeff Combs says they're officially on strike. They picketed outside the Pepsi distribution facility on (Indianapolis') far northwest side. He says their last contract expired Saturday...
Teamsters Win Executive Pay Reform At Gannett teamster.org ...Yesterday, a historic executive pay reform proposal from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund became the first of its kind to receive a majority of the shares cast at a publically-traded company's annual meeting of shareholders...
Trade
US Senators Voice Doubts On Obama Trade Agenda ABC News ...Lawmakers provided a reality check Thursday to the Obama administration's optimism over its trade agenda following some progress in key negotiations with Japan...
In Colombia, Free Trade Brings More Poverty and More Killings truthout ..."In 2013, 26 trade unionists were murdered, four more than in 2012," according to the AFL-CIO. "Attempted murders also increased, from seven to 13...
State Battles
Seattle Announces $15 Minimum Wage, Highest In The U.S. Think Progress ...Seattle will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the coming years under a deal brokered by Mayor Ed Murray and blessed by labor and business groups alike...
California's Bid To Tax Companies Who Don't Share The Wealth Washington Post ...Last week, a committee of California's Senate ... recommended to the full Senate a bill that would cut the state’s taxes on companies with lower ratios between their chief executives’ pay and the pay of their median workers, and raise taxes on companies with the kind of insanely high gap between chief executive and median worker pay that has become the norm in American business...
Conservative ALEC Gathering In Kansas City Will Work On Policy And Power Kansas City Star ...When U.S. Senate Republicans blocked action this week on a bill to raise the federal minimum wage, they echoed a longstanding anti-worker, pro-business campaign by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The council, known widely as ALEC, promotes a free-market, limited-government agenda...
War On Workers
Look Who The Folks Who Took Down ACORN Are Targeting Now The Nation ...Right-wing operatives with links to big retailers going after worker centers like the Restaurant Opportunities Center....
Bankers Learn What Happens In Vegas, Can Land Back In D.C. Bloomberg Businessweek ...While the union’s ranks of maids, dishwashers, cooks and cocktail servers may not pay much attention to financial regulation, its researchers have dug deep into the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to pressure ...(Deutsche Bank AG) to the bargaining table....
Drone Operator Fined After Almost Hitting NYC Pedestrian Bloomberg ...Two weeks after a judge overturned the first U.S. fine for recklessly flying a drone, the government tested its authority again by citing the operator of an unmanned helicopter that crash-landed 20 feet from a pedestrian in New York City...
Everyone is under surveillance now, says whistleblower Edward Snowden The Guardiain ...the US government has programs in place to spy on hundreds of millions of people’s emails, social networking posts, online chat histories, browsing histories, telephone records, telephone calls and texts – “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet”, in the words of one leaked document...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Creates 288,000 Jobs In April, Unemployment Falls to 6.3% Huffington Post ...The U.S. Economy added 288,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday...
The Jobs Report Isn’t as Good as It Looks New York Times ...The number of people in the labor force fell by a whopping 806,000, wiping out the February and March gains and a bit of January as well…. Both hours worked and wages were unchanged...
Buildings collapse on K Street in Northwest Washington Washington Post ...One building completely collapsed and two others, including an adult club, were damaged Friday afternoon near Mount Vernon Square, injuring one person and snarling rush-hour traffic as firefighters investigated and searched the debris...
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.18.13
Teamsters Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers on Strike teamster.org ...The Teamsters and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the Teamsters are standing in solidarity with striking Korean railway workers...
Port Workers In IKEA Supply Chain Hold Solidarity Actions Over Lockout teamster.org ...hundreds of dock workers at 10 ports around the globe held rallies to show their support for the 350 Teamsters who have been locked out from their jobs without pay for seven months at IKEA’s store in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada...
Teamsters Donating Toys to Hershey Ronald McDonald House teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg will be donating more than $7,500 in toys to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey...
SCI Deceives Grieving Family For $15,000 Funeral, Relatives Outraged teamster.org ...“We had no clue there was a change of ownership,” Johnson said. “We went there on the memory of a good family business only to find out it is owned by this huge conglomerate that is mistreating workers and basically spitting on the memory of my mom...”
Northern Tier Refinery Workers Vote To Strike teamster.org ...workers from the Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn. voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary, rejecting cuts proposed by management that could dramatically undermine the safety of operations. The refinery workers are represented by Teamsters Local 120...
GES Exposition Services Threatens Chicago's Convention Business teamster.org ...The company is demanding a laundry list of concessions from the Teamsters, including more work-rule restrictions, further crew-size reductions and changes in seniority...
It’s Time to Halt Middle-Class Housing Crisis teamster.org ...10 million homeowners still owe more than their homes are worth...
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion Bloomberg ...By shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings...
U.S. preparing civil charges against Citigroup, Merrill Lynch: sources Reuters ...Civil investigators have compiled evidence that allegedly shows that investors lost tens of billions of dollars after purchasing securities Citigroup had marketed as safe even though the bank had reason to believe otherwise...
Elizabeth Warren’s New Bill Aims to Stop Employers Discriminating Against the Poor truthdig ...Employers often use credit scores to weed out poorer applicants despite the fact that studies show these numbers have nothing to do with productivity or dedication, but the Equal Employment for All Act introduced Tuesday would prohibit this form of discrimination from taking place...
Why are we letting China buy American companies? New York Post ...The Smithfield buyout is a great loss because the company has become a huge exporter, to Japan and elsewhere, and has developed, with taxpayer assistance, systems and technologies that are best in class. Of course, that was why it became a target and why China Inc. overpaid to get it. But the only American beneficiaries will be a handful of investors. The rest of Smithfield’s stakeholders, and the American economy, will be bruised...
Another Apple Supplier in China Admits Gross Violations of Worker Rights Economic Policy Institute ...In a swift reaction to ugly publicity about suicides, injuries, and mistreatment of workers, Biel Crystal, one of Apple’s most important suppliers of touchscreen cover glass for its iPhones, reached an agreement with the Chinese labor rights group, SACOM, to take three steps toward better conditions by January 2014...
Mexico's rights body warns of growth of vigilantes Associated Press ...Raul Plascencia, president of the National Human Rights Commission, said the growth of these groups are already undermining the rule of law but could also lead to more violence. He blamed the emergence of such groups on an official failure to provide security...
Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama The Guardian ...German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone...
Court: Occupy Columbia can sue Haley over arrests Associated Press ...Gov. Nikki Haley isn't immune from being sued by Occupy Columbia protesters who were kicked off the Statehouse grounds in 2011, a federal appeals court ruled Monday...
Port Workers In IKEA Supply Chain Hold Solidarity Actions Over Lockout teamster.org ...hundreds of dock workers at 10 ports around the globe held rallies to show their support for the 350 Teamsters who have been locked out from their jobs without pay for seven months at IKEA’s store in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada...
Teamsters Donating Toys to Hershey Ronald McDonald House teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg will be donating more than $7,500 in toys to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey...
SCI Deceives Grieving Family For $15,000 Funeral, Relatives Outraged teamster.org ...“We had no clue there was a change of ownership,” Johnson said. “We went there on the memory of a good family business only to find out it is owned by this huge conglomerate that is mistreating workers and basically spitting on the memory of my mom...”
Northern Tier Refinery Workers Vote To Strike teamster.org ...workers from the Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn. voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary, rejecting cuts proposed by management that could dramatically undermine the safety of operations. The refinery workers are represented by Teamsters Local 120...
GES Exposition Services Threatens Chicago's Convention Business teamster.org ...The company is demanding a laundry list of concessions from the Teamsters, including more work-rule restrictions, further crew-size reductions and changes in seniority...
It’s Time to Halt Middle-Class Housing Crisis teamster.org ...10 million homeowners still owe more than their homes are worth...
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion Bloomberg ...By shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings...
U.S. preparing civil charges against Citigroup, Merrill Lynch: sources Reuters ...Civil investigators have compiled evidence that allegedly shows that investors lost tens of billions of dollars after purchasing securities Citigroup had marketed as safe even though the bank had reason to believe otherwise...
Elizabeth Warren’s New Bill Aims to Stop Employers Discriminating Against the Poor truthdig ...Employers often use credit scores to weed out poorer applicants despite the fact that studies show these numbers have nothing to do with productivity or dedication, but the Equal Employment for All Act introduced Tuesday would prohibit this form of discrimination from taking place...
Why are we letting China buy American companies? New York Post ...The Smithfield buyout is a great loss because the company has become a huge exporter, to Japan and elsewhere, and has developed, with taxpayer assistance, systems and technologies that are best in class. Of course, that was why it became a target and why China Inc. overpaid to get it. But the only American beneficiaries will be a handful of investors. The rest of Smithfield’s stakeholders, and the American economy, will be bruised...
Another Apple Supplier in China Admits Gross Violations of Worker Rights Economic Policy Institute ...In a swift reaction to ugly publicity about suicides, injuries, and mistreatment of workers, Biel Crystal, one of Apple’s most important suppliers of touchscreen cover glass for its iPhones, reached an agreement with the Chinese labor rights group, SACOM, to take three steps toward better conditions by January 2014...
Mexico's rights body warns of growth of vigilantes Associated Press ...Raul Plascencia, president of the National Human Rights Commission, said the growth of these groups are already undermining the rule of law but could also lead to more violence. He blamed the emergence of such groups on an official failure to provide security...
Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama The Guardian ...German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone...
Court: Occupy Columbia can sue Haley over arrests Associated Press ...Gov. Nikki Haley isn't immune from being sued by Occupy Columbia protesters who were kicked off the Statehouse grounds in 2011, a federal appeals court ruled Monday...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.05.13
Cab Drivers Deliver Letter To Gray, Ask For Impoundment Halt DCist ...With the Teamsters behind them, a group of D.C. cab drivers gathered outside the Wilson Building to continue their fight against what they see as the problematic rollout of modernization efforts and to get Mayor Vince Gray's attention...
New grocery contract passes by ‘overwhelming majority’ Seattle Times ...Grocery workers, who are represented by the Teamsters and UFCW in Western Washington, approved a new 3-year contract, ending a month-long series of negotiations that nearly led to a strike...
UPS driver wins praise for working 51 years without a crash Detroit Free Press ...UPS driver Tom Camp and his big, brown truck have done something no other UPS driver has accomplished: 51 years without an accident...
“We have the right to educate you”: Workplace indoctrination caught on tape The Salon ...In leaked recordings, bosses lecture workers not to unionize, and insist 'This truly is for your best interest'...
Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank’s a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD Wall Street on Parade ...The photo shows an employee of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s number one target for financial fraud investigations, JPMorgan Chase, working inside a high security spy center in Lower Manhattan to — wait for it — help the New York City Police Department catch crooks...
If 'Stop and Frisk' Is Such an Effective Tactic, Why Not Use an Electronic Version on Potentially Corrupt Bank CEOs? Huffington Post ...It's estimated that the 2008 financial crisis cost over $6 trillion. In 2009 alone, it's believed that an additional 5,000 people committed suicide due to the financial crisis and resulting unemployment, as the result of malfeasant senior bank officers...
Reich: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay a Huge Price AlterNet ...The bottom 90 percent of Americans have disappeared from official Washington...
One Million K-12 Students Are Homeless Truthout ...For many students, when they go to school each morning, they may have no idea where they will be sleeping that night...
Blaming the Poor for Poverty Truthout ...Most of the poverty in the U.S. is created from the sort of policies that cut taxes on the wealthy, do away with fiscal and other business regulations, shred the social safety net, and erode middle-class stability – all while singing the praises of self-reliance and individual responsibility...
How We Have Ended Up Paying for 1 Percenters Beach Vacation Homes The Salon ...It's time for the wealthy with vacation homes and valuable shoreline land to pay their own way -- and not rely on us...5 Ways Super-Rich Are Betraying America AlterNet ...This small group of takers is giving up on the country that made it possible for them to build huge fortunes...
Mexico gun battles leave many dead The Guardian ...Thirteen killed in border city of Matamoros as gunmen clash with Mexican armed forces in region ravaged by drug gangs...
Immigration Reform Requires Dismantling NAFTA and Respecting Migrants' Rights The Real News ...“When the North American Free Trade Agreement allowed big U.S. grain companies, for instance, to dump cheap, cheap corn on the Mexican market, hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers essentially were not able to sell their crops for the cost of growing it,” says Bacon. “[They] had to leave home in order to survive, and wound up migrating to the north of Mexico, crossing the border, and coming here to the United States.”...
Colombian women on 'crossed legs' sex strike over crumbling highway Global Post ...Why, they asked, should they bring any more babies into the world when pregnant women were dying along the highway trying to get to the hospital?...
Bangladesh Garment Workers Get A Raise (But They Still Earn the Lowest Wages In The World) Associated Press ...A government-appointed panel in Bangladesh voted Monday to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to about $66 a month — still the lowest in the world and well below what workers have been seeking...
Kochs’ Group Has Big Ambitions in Small Elections New York Times ...Backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity has been involved in local political contests in Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Iowa, but some are skeptical of its motives...
Koch group, unions battle over Colorado schools race Politico ...This fall, Americans for Prosperity is also spending big in the wealthy suburbs south of Denver to influence voters in the Douglas County School District, which has gone further than any district in the nation to reshape public education into a competitive, free-market enterprise...
Fewer than 1/4th of Republicans Support Electing More Women to Congress AlterNet ...New poll reveals staggering partisan gender divide on women in politics...
Texas' Restrictive Voter ID Law Stops A Former U.S. House Speaker From Getting A Voter ID Card Huffington Post ...Former U.S. Speaker of the House Jim Wright (D-Texas) unsuccessfully tried to get a voter identification card at a Texas Department of Public Safety office on Saturday...
As Pennsylvania Prepares to Fail, Other States Are Not Far Behind (opinion) Talking Points Memo ...It's hard to imagine that Pennsylvania is preparing to become a failed state, but it is. Despite world-class universities, active industries, and a global economic footprint, the Commonwealth has decided to cut funding for students and place its bets on a growing prison population...
Auto Workers Try a New Angle at Volkswagen Truthout ...The United Auto Workers, so long frustrated in their attempts to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S., may have found a different way in...
BART union members approve contract Progressive Railroading ...Members of Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) two largest unions have ratified four-year contracts that will increase wages, require employee pension contribution, improve safety and allow BART to adopt technology to streamline operations…
New grocery contract passes by ‘overwhelming majority’ Seattle Times ...Grocery workers, who are represented by the Teamsters and UFCW in Western Washington, approved a new 3-year contract, ending a month-long series of negotiations that nearly led to a strike...
UPS driver wins praise for working 51 years without a crash Detroit Free Press ...UPS driver Tom Camp and his big, brown truck have done something no other UPS driver has accomplished: 51 years without an accident...
“We have the right to educate you”: Workplace indoctrination caught on tape The Salon ...In leaked recordings, bosses lecture workers not to unionize, and insist 'This truly is for your best interest'...
Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank’s a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD Wall Street on Parade ...The photo shows an employee of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s number one target for financial fraud investigations, JPMorgan Chase, working inside a high security spy center in Lower Manhattan to — wait for it — help the New York City Police Department catch crooks...
If 'Stop and Frisk' Is Such an Effective Tactic, Why Not Use an Electronic Version on Potentially Corrupt Bank CEOs? Huffington Post ...It's estimated that the 2008 financial crisis cost over $6 trillion. In 2009 alone, it's believed that an additional 5,000 people committed suicide due to the financial crisis and resulting unemployment, as the result of malfeasant senior bank officers...
Reich: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay a Huge Price AlterNet ...The bottom 90 percent of Americans have disappeared from official Washington...
One Million K-12 Students Are Homeless Truthout ...For many students, when they go to school each morning, they may have no idea where they will be sleeping that night...
Blaming the Poor for Poverty Truthout ...Most of the poverty in the U.S. is created from the sort of policies that cut taxes on the wealthy, do away with fiscal and other business regulations, shred the social safety net, and erode middle-class stability – all while singing the praises of self-reliance and individual responsibility...
How We Have Ended Up Paying for 1 Percenters Beach Vacation Homes The Salon ...It's time for the wealthy with vacation homes and valuable shoreline land to pay their own way -- and not rely on us...5 Ways Super-Rich Are Betraying America AlterNet ...This small group of takers is giving up on the country that made it possible for them to build huge fortunes...
Mexico gun battles leave many dead The Guardian ...Thirteen killed in border city of Matamoros as gunmen clash with Mexican armed forces in region ravaged by drug gangs...
Immigration Reform Requires Dismantling NAFTA and Respecting Migrants' Rights The Real News ...“When the North American Free Trade Agreement allowed big U.S. grain companies, for instance, to dump cheap, cheap corn on the Mexican market, hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers essentially were not able to sell their crops for the cost of growing it,” says Bacon. “[They] had to leave home in order to survive, and wound up migrating to the north of Mexico, crossing the border, and coming here to the United States.”...
Colombian women on 'crossed legs' sex strike over crumbling highway Global Post ...Why, they asked, should they bring any more babies into the world when pregnant women were dying along the highway trying to get to the hospital?...
Bangladesh Garment Workers Get A Raise (But They Still Earn the Lowest Wages In The World) Associated Press ...A government-appointed panel in Bangladesh voted Monday to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to about $66 a month — still the lowest in the world and well below what workers have been seeking...
Kochs’ Group Has Big Ambitions in Small Elections New York Times ...Backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity has been involved in local political contests in Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Iowa, but some are skeptical of its motives...
Koch group, unions battle over Colorado schools race Politico ...This fall, Americans for Prosperity is also spending big in the wealthy suburbs south of Denver to influence voters in the Douglas County School District, which has gone further than any district in the nation to reshape public education into a competitive, free-market enterprise...
Fewer than 1/4th of Republicans Support Electing More Women to Congress AlterNet ...New poll reveals staggering partisan gender divide on women in politics...
Texas' Restrictive Voter ID Law Stops A Former U.S. House Speaker From Getting A Voter ID Card Huffington Post ...Former U.S. Speaker of the House Jim Wright (D-Texas) unsuccessfully tried to get a voter identification card at a Texas Department of Public Safety office on Saturday...
As Pennsylvania Prepares to Fail, Other States Are Not Far Behind (opinion) Talking Points Memo ...It's hard to imagine that Pennsylvania is preparing to become a failed state, but it is. Despite world-class universities, active industries, and a global economic footprint, the Commonwealth has decided to cut funding for students and place its bets on a growing prison population...
Auto Workers Try a New Angle at Volkswagen Truthout ...The United Auto Workers, so long frustrated in their attempts to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S., may have found a different way in...
BART union members approve contract Progressive Railroading ...Members of Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) two largest unions have ratified four-year contracts that will increase wages, require employee pension contribution, improve safety and allow BART to adopt technology to streamline operations…
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.10.13
Ballots Sent to Some ABF Teamsters for Strike Vote truckinginfo ...Less-than-truckload carrier ABF has been notified by the Teamsters Union that ballots to authorize a strike are being mailed on Tuesday to nearly 1,800 employees covered by the Central Region Local Cartage supplement...
Teamsters again declare bargaining impasse with Pasco Tampa Tribune ...Three years after Pasco County workers voted to form a union, they still don’t have a contract. The Teamsters Local 79 declared impasse for the second time last Friday, which means both sides will again plead their case to a special magistrate...
All in the Family teamster.org ...Shelley Goodman has witnessed a lot of hardship in her 21 years as a Durham School Services school bus driver and Teamster organizer...
Hoffa: Government Shutdown A Financial Crisis for Workers Detroit News ...The Republican shutdown of the federal government is being felt not only in Washington, but here in Michigan as well. Workers, military members and even children are the unfortunate victims of the political budget games...
Labor takes time to celebrate Local's 100 years Anderson Valley Post ...On October 5, organized labor took some time off to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Teamsters Local 137 at the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson...
Hoffa: Unions Need Global Solidarity Huffington Post ...In a few short decades, our country and our world have changed dramatically. In the last 30 years, America has gone from the world's biggest creditor nation to the one holding the world's largest debt...
Newsday driver jobs may be cut New York Post ...Cablevision is hoping to shave $10 million in costs from its money-draining Newsday operating by booting about 35 drivers, who are members of Graphic Communications Conference Local 406...
The Kochs Can't Control the Monster They Created The Atlantic ...The billionaire conservatives join the ranks of business interests trying to rein in the GOP's base, but it has turned into an unstoppable force...
Gallup: GOP approval at all-time low Salon ...A new poll finds the GOP with the lowest party approval rating in Gallup history...
Starting tomorrow, we’re down 90 percent of our nuclear safety regulators Salon ... efforts to make the reactors safer, such as changes meant to prevent something similar to what’s going on at Fukushima from happening here, will be put on hold...
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks Alternet ...The lack of general awareness about the TPP is exactly what unelected trade officials and lobbyists hope for; the more covert the negotiations, the easier it is to usher in extreme new Internet censorship rules...
How Private Tech Companies Are Collecting Data on You and Selling Them to the Feds for Huge Profits Alternet ... Inside your mobile phone and hidden behind your web browser are little known software products marketed by contractors to the government that can follow you around anywhere...
New EPI Economic Indicator: Monthly Updates of the Number of “Missing Workers” and What the Unemployment Rate Would Be If They Were Looking for Work Economic Policy Institute ...if the nearly 5 million missing workers were looking for work and thus counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate in August would have been 10.1 percent instead of 7.3 percent...
McDonald's Employee Confronts Executive: I Can't Afford Shoes For My Children The Real News ...Salgado confronted the president of McDonald’s, Jeff Stratton, about her wages during his speech at the Union League Club of Chicago….She and six other protesters were given tickets for trespassing...
Thousands Join Teachers' Protest in Rio de Janeiro Portside ...March draws biggest turnout since wave of protests during Confederations Cup in June, and anarchist groups clash with police...
Michigan Education Association Retains 99% Of Members WKAR Public Media ...As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the president of the Michigan Education Association says 99 percent of its members have opted to stick with the union...
School buses roll again in Boston; disgruntled drivers meet with bus company officials Boston Globe ...Hundreds of Boston school buses ferried students to schools yesterday morning with only a few delays, a day after a surprise strike by the drivers sent thousands of parents scrambling for alternatives...
When Giant Banks Pay Fines, Where Does the Money Go? Does It Stop Crime? AlterNet ...If somebody broke into your home and stole your belongings, you’d expect to see some serious consequences if they got caught. But when banks rob Americans—and even cast them out of their own homes illegally—the worst that usually happens is a fine...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin keeps increasing its long-term borrowing The Cap Times ...Gov. Scott Walker has honed his reputation as a fiscal conservative, taking credit for closing a $3.6 billion spending gap left from the Jim Doyle administration...
GOP bets on economy haven't paid off (opinion) NWI Times ...The way Gov. Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicans talked in early 2012, I was ready to set up a toll gate at the state line when the anti-union right-to-work bill was approved...
Bill Schuette to Michigan Supreme Court: Don't waste your time on right-to-work appeal Detroit Free Press ...The Michigan Supreme Court shouldn't waste its time taking up an appeal over one of the state's controversial right-to-work laws, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wrote in a court filing this week...
Teamsters again declare bargaining impasse with Pasco Tampa Tribune ...Three years after Pasco County workers voted to form a union, they still don’t have a contract. The Teamsters Local 79 declared impasse for the second time last Friday, which means both sides will again plead their case to a special magistrate...
All in the Family teamster.org ...Shelley Goodman has witnessed a lot of hardship in her 21 years as a Durham School Services school bus driver and Teamster organizer...
Hoffa: Government Shutdown A Financial Crisis for Workers Detroit News ...The Republican shutdown of the federal government is being felt not only in Washington, but here in Michigan as well. Workers, military members and even children are the unfortunate victims of the political budget games...
Labor takes time to celebrate Local's 100 years Anderson Valley Post ...On October 5, organized labor took some time off to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Teamsters Local 137 at the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson...
Hoffa: Unions Need Global Solidarity Huffington Post ...In a few short decades, our country and our world have changed dramatically. In the last 30 years, America has gone from the world's biggest creditor nation to the one holding the world's largest debt...
Newsday driver jobs may be cut New York Post ...Cablevision is hoping to shave $10 million in costs from its money-draining Newsday operating by booting about 35 drivers, who are members of Graphic Communications Conference Local 406...
The Kochs Can't Control the Monster They Created The Atlantic ...The billionaire conservatives join the ranks of business interests trying to rein in the GOP's base, but it has turned into an unstoppable force...
Gallup: GOP approval at all-time low Salon ...A new poll finds the GOP with the lowest party approval rating in Gallup history...
Starting tomorrow, we’re down 90 percent of our nuclear safety regulators Salon ... efforts to make the reactors safer, such as changes meant to prevent something similar to what’s going on at Fukushima from happening here, will be put on hold...
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks Alternet ...The lack of general awareness about the TPP is exactly what unelected trade officials and lobbyists hope for; the more covert the negotiations, the easier it is to usher in extreme new Internet censorship rules...
How Private Tech Companies Are Collecting Data on You and Selling Them to the Feds for Huge Profits Alternet ... Inside your mobile phone and hidden behind your web browser are little known software products marketed by contractors to the government that can follow you around anywhere...
New EPI Economic Indicator: Monthly Updates of the Number of “Missing Workers” and What the Unemployment Rate Would Be If They Were Looking for Work Economic Policy Institute ...if the nearly 5 million missing workers were looking for work and thus counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate in August would have been 10.1 percent instead of 7.3 percent...
McDonald's Employee Confronts Executive: I Can't Afford Shoes For My Children The Real News ...Salgado confronted the president of McDonald’s, Jeff Stratton, about her wages during his speech at the Union League Club of Chicago….She and six other protesters were given tickets for trespassing...
Thousands Join Teachers' Protest in Rio de Janeiro Portside ...March draws biggest turnout since wave of protests during Confederations Cup in June, and anarchist groups clash with police...
Michigan Education Association Retains 99% Of Members WKAR Public Media ...As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the president of the Michigan Education Association says 99 percent of its members have opted to stick with the union...
School buses roll again in Boston; disgruntled drivers meet with bus company officials Boston Globe ...Hundreds of Boston school buses ferried students to schools yesterday morning with only a few delays, a day after a surprise strike by the drivers sent thousands of parents scrambling for alternatives...
When Giant Banks Pay Fines, Where Does the Money Go? Does It Stop Crime? AlterNet ...If somebody broke into your home and stole your belongings, you’d expect to see some serious consequences if they got caught. But when banks rob Americans—and even cast them out of their own homes illegally—the worst that usually happens is a fine...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin keeps increasing its long-term borrowing The Cap Times ...Gov. Scott Walker has honed his reputation as a fiscal conservative, taking credit for closing a $3.6 billion spending gap left from the Jim Doyle administration...
GOP bets on economy haven't paid off (opinion) NWI Times ...The way Gov. Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicans talked in early 2012, I was ready to set up a toll gate at the state line when the anti-union right-to-work bill was approved...
Bill Schuette to Michigan Supreme Court: Don't waste your time on right-to-work appeal Detroit Free Press ...The Michigan Supreme Court shouldn't waste its time taking up an appeal over one of the state's controversial right-to-work laws, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wrote in a court filing this week...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 08.21.13
Republic Waste Workers from Local 728 Ratify First Contract IBT ...Waste workers employed by Republic Services near Atlanta have ratified their first contract, which boosts wages and on-the-job protections...
Teamster Contract With Kittitas County Ratified Daily Record ...Kittitas County commissioners recently ratified a new, four-year collective bargaining labor contract with Teamsters Local 760, which represents 28 county sheriff’s deputies...
Funeral Industry Giant SCI Locks Out Chicago Teamster Funeral Directors IBT ...Funeral industry giant Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) has locked out 59 Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727, despite an unconditional offer from the union to return to work...
Contract negotiations with Teamsters back on at Sabreliner Republic Monitor ...Members of Teamsters Local 600 in Maryland Heights, Missouri, unanimously voted last Thursday to reject the “ last and final” contract terms. But less than 24 hours later, both parties agreed to re-enter negotiations and extend the union’s current contract until this Saturday...
Trucking strike ends for Fontana depot Press-Enterprise Drivers and dock workers at a Fontana trucking depot returned to work Monday following a three-day strike. The disputes between Teamsters Local 63 and company officials will be decided by an arbitrator later this week...
Teamster strikers at Gold Cross are attempting negotiations with management again Imperial Valley Press ...Teamsters at Gold Cross and their parent company, Schaefer Ambulance, are entering negotiations for the second time since the strike began for get better treatment for the employees, better working conditions, a pay increase, and no cuts to medical benefits...
Many Teamster strikers at Lake Transit return to picket line Lake County Record-Bee ...Paratransit Services employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, went back to the picket line after ending a three-week strike following the news that the majority of workers will likely not get their jobs back immediately...
Amtrak: Record-Breaking Ridership in July Amtrak ...Year-over-year ridership in July grew 4.8 percent to more than 2.9 million passengers, an all-time record for most passengers in one month. Northeast Corridor services, state-supported and other short-distance routes, and long-distance trains all showed gains for July...
Moly-Cop pushes CP Rail for service Daily News ...Moly-Cop’s Kamloops operation is demanding that rail service be returned to its plant six weeks after the Kelowna Pacific Railway shut down. The company contends to the Canadian Transportation Agency it has a right to service under the Fair Rail Freight Service Act — legislation that passed only last June...
Rail Traffic Picks Up Some Momentum Pragmatic Capitalism ...More decent news here in rail trends as we begin to see some signs of life in traffic. Intermodal jumped 6.1% year over year and total traffic was up 2.7%. Carloads were down marginally. This week’s reading brought the 12 week moving average in intermodal to 2.8% which is the highest reading since May...
‘Oligarchic tendencies’: Study finds only the wealthy get represented in the Senate Raw Story ...In all of the five Congresses examined, the voting records of Senators were consistently aligned with the opinions of their wealthiest constituents. The opinions of lower-class constituents, however, never appeared to influence the Senators’ voting behavior...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National Anti-Union ‘Right To Work’ Bill To The Senate Progressive Change Campaign Committee ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Fast Food Workers Plan Nationwide Walkout August 29 Business Review USA ...“If you work in a fast food or retail store anywhere in the country, we urge you to join our growing movement,” said Terrance Wise, a 34-year old father of three who earns $9.30 an hour after eight years at Burger King and $7.47 at Pizza Hut in Kansas City. “Get together with some or all of your co-workers and make plans to take to the streets on August 29...
Unemployment rates rise in most US states in July Associated Press ...Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum...
Judge endorses use of fraud law against Bank of America Reuters ...A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks...
More students than ever rely on federal college aid Politico ...Students and families are more willing than ever to borrow to pay for college and increasingly reliant on federal grants and loans to help with tuition bills, statistics released yesterday from the U.S. Education Department show...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Remove What’s Left Of American Democracy firedoglake ...If TPP passes it will override American law. Again: we will not be able to pass laws that reign in the corporations. We will not be able to protect our jobs and wages because, as we have seen, companies can just close a factory and move your job to a country that pays very little, doesn’t protect the environment, and doesn’t let working people do anything about it...
Greece will need new bailout, says Germany's Schaeuble BBC News ...The country's economy has shrunk further than any other in Europe, with bailout money only released on condition that the government imposes cuts and implements restructuring...
First Maine Lobstering Union Meeting Held WFVX Bangor News ...Lobstering in Maine has had its fair share of ups and downs over the past year few years, but now with the 'Maine Lobstering Union' officially formed Sunday, lobstermen are hoping to see changes come to this booming business in the Pine Tree State...
Missouri Lt. Governor: ‘We’ll pass Right to Work in 2014;’ Ohioans prepare for legislative fallout Beverly Hills Courier ...As pro-union supporters in Ohio begin preparations for the upcoming legislative session, their attention will also be focused on Missouri after Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told an Associated Press reporter that he believes Right to Work is heading to the ballot in an attempt to bypass the state’s anti-right to work governor...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...Pennsylvania's right-wing governor drains public schools of basic funds -- and the sickening details will shock you...
Florida teachers still waiting for first raise in a long time Orlando Sentinel ...Teachers welcomed the news earlier this year when Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for $2,500 pay hikes and then kept up the raises-for-teachers drumbeat in the months that followed. But seven months after Scott made his teacher-raise announcement, no Central Florida public-school teacher has gotten the pay hike he touted...
California discourages needy from receiving food stamps Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...For years, Texas was among a handful of states that required every resident seeking help with grocery bills to first be fingerprinted, an exercise typically associated with criminals. Texas remains one of the most effective states at keeping its poor out of the giant federal food stamp program. But it is not No. 1. That distinction belongs to California...
Democratic North Carolina State Senator Resigns From Office To Help People Get Voter ID PoliticusUSA ...Many Democrats talk about fighting back against voter suppression, but North Carolina state senator Ellie Kinnaird resigned from office today in order to work on a grassroots project to help people obtain voter IDs. Read her statement...
Bankruptcy Judge Should Respect Michigan’s Constitution Even If Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Doesn’t Economic Policy Institute ...By ignoring the state’s constitution and its protection for accrued public employee pensions, Snyder is undermining the rule of law and adopting the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that usually precedes violations of public trust...
Teamster Contract With Kittitas County Ratified Daily Record ...Kittitas County commissioners recently ratified a new, four-year collective bargaining labor contract with Teamsters Local 760, which represents 28 county sheriff’s deputies...
Funeral Industry Giant SCI Locks Out Chicago Teamster Funeral Directors IBT ...Funeral industry giant Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) has locked out 59 Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727, despite an unconditional offer from the union to return to work...
Contract negotiations with Teamsters back on at Sabreliner Republic Monitor ...Members of Teamsters Local 600 in Maryland Heights, Missouri, unanimously voted last Thursday to reject the “ last and final” contract terms. But less than 24 hours later, both parties agreed to re-enter negotiations and extend the union’s current contract until this Saturday...
Trucking strike ends for Fontana depot Press-Enterprise Drivers and dock workers at a Fontana trucking depot returned to work Monday following a three-day strike. The disputes between Teamsters Local 63 and company officials will be decided by an arbitrator later this week...
Teamster strikers at Gold Cross are attempting negotiations with management again Imperial Valley Press ...Teamsters at Gold Cross and their parent company, Schaefer Ambulance, are entering negotiations for the second time since the strike began for get better treatment for the employees, better working conditions, a pay increase, and no cuts to medical benefits...
Many Teamster strikers at Lake Transit return to picket line Lake County Record-Bee ...Paratransit Services employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, went back to the picket line after ending a three-week strike following the news that the majority of workers will likely not get their jobs back immediately...
Amtrak: Record-Breaking Ridership in July Amtrak ...Year-over-year ridership in July grew 4.8 percent to more than 2.9 million passengers, an all-time record for most passengers in one month. Northeast Corridor services, state-supported and other short-distance routes, and long-distance trains all showed gains for July...
Moly-Cop pushes CP Rail for service Daily News ...Moly-Cop’s Kamloops operation is demanding that rail service be returned to its plant six weeks after the Kelowna Pacific Railway shut down. The company contends to the Canadian Transportation Agency it has a right to service under the Fair Rail Freight Service Act — legislation that passed only last June...
Rail Traffic Picks Up Some Momentum Pragmatic Capitalism ...More decent news here in rail trends as we begin to see some signs of life in traffic. Intermodal jumped 6.1% year over year and total traffic was up 2.7%. Carloads were down marginally. This week’s reading brought the 12 week moving average in intermodal to 2.8% which is the highest reading since May...
‘Oligarchic tendencies’: Study finds only the wealthy get represented in the Senate Raw Story ...In all of the five Congresses examined, the voting records of Senators were consistently aligned with the opinions of their wealthiest constituents. The opinions of lower-class constituents, however, never appeared to influence the Senators’ voting behavior...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National Anti-Union ‘Right To Work’ Bill To The Senate Progressive Change Campaign Committee ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Fast Food Workers Plan Nationwide Walkout August 29 Business Review USA ...“If you work in a fast food or retail store anywhere in the country, we urge you to join our growing movement,” said Terrance Wise, a 34-year old father of three who earns $9.30 an hour after eight years at Burger King and $7.47 at Pizza Hut in Kansas City. “Get together with some or all of your co-workers and make plans to take to the streets on August 29...
Unemployment rates rise in most US states in July Associated Press ...Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum...
Judge endorses use of fraud law against Bank of America Reuters ...A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks...
More students than ever rely on federal college aid Politico ...Students and families are more willing than ever to borrow to pay for college and increasingly reliant on federal grants and loans to help with tuition bills, statistics released yesterday from the U.S. Education Department show...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Remove What’s Left Of American Democracy firedoglake ...If TPP passes it will override American law. Again: we will not be able to pass laws that reign in the corporations. We will not be able to protect our jobs and wages because, as we have seen, companies can just close a factory and move your job to a country that pays very little, doesn’t protect the environment, and doesn’t let working people do anything about it...
Greece will need new bailout, says Germany's Schaeuble BBC News ...The country's economy has shrunk further than any other in Europe, with bailout money only released on condition that the government imposes cuts and implements restructuring...
First Maine Lobstering Union Meeting Held WFVX Bangor News ...Lobstering in Maine has had its fair share of ups and downs over the past year few years, but now with the 'Maine Lobstering Union' officially formed Sunday, lobstermen are hoping to see changes come to this booming business in the Pine Tree State...
Missouri Lt. Governor: ‘We’ll pass Right to Work in 2014;’ Ohioans prepare for legislative fallout Beverly Hills Courier ...As pro-union supporters in Ohio begin preparations for the upcoming legislative session, their attention will also be focused on Missouri after Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told an Associated Press reporter that he believes Right to Work is heading to the ballot in an attempt to bypass the state’s anti-right to work governor...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...Pennsylvania's right-wing governor drains public schools of basic funds -- and the sickening details will shock you...
Florida teachers still waiting for first raise in a long time Orlando Sentinel ...Teachers welcomed the news earlier this year when Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for $2,500 pay hikes and then kept up the raises-for-teachers drumbeat in the months that followed. But seven months after Scott made his teacher-raise announcement, no Central Florida public-school teacher has gotten the pay hike he touted...
California discourages needy from receiving food stamps Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...For years, Texas was among a handful of states that required every resident seeking help with grocery bills to first be fingerprinted, an exercise typically associated with criminals. Texas remains one of the most effective states at keeping its poor out of the giant federal food stamp program. But it is not No. 1. That distinction belongs to California...
Democratic North Carolina State Senator Resigns From Office To Help People Get Voter ID PoliticusUSA ...Many Democrats talk about fighting back against voter suppression, but North Carolina state senator Ellie Kinnaird resigned from office today in order to work on a grassroots project to help people obtain voter IDs. Read her statement...
Bankruptcy Judge Should Respect Michigan’s Constitution Even If Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Doesn’t Economic Policy Institute ...By ignoring the state’s constitution and its protection for accrued public employee pensions, Snyder is undermining the rule of law and adopting the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that usually precedes violations of public trust...
Friday, August 9, 2013
Today's Teamster News 08.09.13
Oxford deputies to vote on joining the Teamsters Union Oxford Hills Sun Journal ...Oxford County Sheriff's deputies in Maine are set to begin voting on whether to drop their current bargaining agent and become members of Teamsters Local 340...
Talks break down between Ikea and striking Teamster workers Vancouver Sun ...The union representing Ikea workers in Richmond, British Columbia has rejected the company’s latest offer, including an automatic wage increase, as talks ground to a halt in the four-month labor dispute...
Little Campbell train trestle talks on track Peace Arch News ...Meetings between BNSF and Semiahmoo First Nation are planned later this month to discuss replacing the Little Campbell River railway bridge that union leaders, including Bill Brehl, President of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division, have voiced concerns about safety...
ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress PRWatch ...The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a new report: "ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress." The new report identifies and analyzes 466 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bills introduced in 2013 that reflect corporate agenda...
ALEC Meeting In Chicago Draws Conservative Lawmakers, Protesters Associated Press ...As meeting participants handed out awards and dined at a meal sponsored by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, picketers denouncing "corporate greed" paced the sidewalks and clogged the street in front of the Chicago hotel hosting the conference...
Wisconsin Capitol Protesters Defiant Despite Growing Crackdown The Real News ... In the past two weeks alone, more than 100 demonstrators have been arrested during the weekly held Solidarity Sing-Along protests, with this most recent wave of arrests taking place on Tuesday, August 6...
JPMorgan Under Criminal and Civil Investigation Over Mortgages firedoglake ...JPMorgan Chase & Co. disclosed in a SEC filing that it was under criminal investigation and had already been notified by the Department of Justice’s civil division that it had violated federal securities laws in offerings of subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage securities during 2005 to 2007...
Bank of England governor calls for change in banks' culture The Telegraph ...There must be a change of culture in “socially useless” banks that disconnect themselves from the real economy, the Bank of England governor Mark Carney has suggested...
Walmart pays $190,000 fine and agrees to improve safety at 2,800 stores The Guardian ...Walmart has agreed to improve safety conditions at more than 2,800 stores in 28 US states after inspectors discovered "repeat and serious" health and safety violations at a store in Rochester, New York...
Fast-Food Fight (opinion) New York Times ...As measured by the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour, low-paid work in America is lower paid today than at any time in modern memory...
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficit Shrank In June TradeReform ...The enormous, humongous, vast, staggering, unbelievable, job-sucking, economy-sucking US trade deficit shrank to “only” $34.2 billion from a revised $44.1 billion in May. Exports of US goods and petroleum were up, imports of petroleum and consumer goods were down....
Chasing costs, a ‘sweatshop locator’ New York Times ...Disasters at garment factory buildings in Bangladesh, such as the collapse of this building earlier this year, have the clothing industry looking for new locations to place factories. To find such places, it turns to Li & Fung, a company most American shoppers have never heard of...
BART, unions resume talks as senators add pressure Associated Press ...Bay Area Rapid Transit's management and employee unions resumed contract negotiations Thursday as California's two senators urged the parties resolve the labor dispute and head off a crippling transit strike...
Hearing reveals huge gap between BART management, unions KTVU News ...A fact-finding panel appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown heard firsthand Wednesday how far apart BART and its labor unions remain even though they've been bargaining since April 1...
Tennessee Takes a Bite out of Worker Misclassification Construction Citizen ...A new law in Tennessee gives the state’s Department of Labor (DOL) sharper teeth with which to take a bigger bite out of workers’ compensation fraud in the construction industry...
Ohio payday lenders keep loaning under other laws 5 years after effort to limit such business Associated Press ...Payday lenders targeted by Ohio legislation that banned short-term, high-cost loans five years ago are skirting that crackdown by offering high-interest loans under other laws...
In a state with high voter turnout, a GOP bill targets elderly, early voting MSNBC ...While voting rights advocates have zeroed in on North Carolina where the governor is getting ready to sign a controversial voting law, Republicans in Wisconsin are readying their own voting overhaul...
Talks break down between Ikea and striking Teamster workers Vancouver Sun ...The union representing Ikea workers in Richmond, British Columbia has rejected the company’s latest offer, including an automatic wage increase, as talks ground to a halt in the four-month labor dispute...
Little Campbell train trestle talks on track Peace Arch News ...Meetings between BNSF and Semiahmoo First Nation are planned later this month to discuss replacing the Little Campbell River railway bridge that union leaders, including Bill Brehl, President of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division, have voiced concerns about safety...
ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress PRWatch ...The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a new report: "ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress." The new report identifies and analyzes 466 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bills introduced in 2013 that reflect corporate agenda...
ALEC Meeting In Chicago Draws Conservative Lawmakers, Protesters Associated Press ...As meeting participants handed out awards and dined at a meal sponsored by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, picketers denouncing "corporate greed" paced the sidewalks and clogged the street in front of the Chicago hotel hosting the conference...
Wisconsin Capitol Protesters Defiant Despite Growing Crackdown The Real News ... In the past two weeks alone, more than 100 demonstrators have been arrested during the weekly held Solidarity Sing-Along protests, with this most recent wave of arrests taking place on Tuesday, August 6...
JPMorgan Under Criminal and Civil Investigation Over Mortgages firedoglake ...JPMorgan Chase & Co. disclosed in a SEC filing that it was under criminal investigation and had already been notified by the Department of Justice’s civil division that it had violated federal securities laws in offerings of subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage securities during 2005 to 2007...
Bank of England governor calls for change in banks' culture The Telegraph ...There must be a change of culture in “socially useless” banks that disconnect themselves from the real economy, the Bank of England governor Mark Carney has suggested...
Walmart pays $190,000 fine and agrees to improve safety at 2,800 stores The Guardian ...Walmart has agreed to improve safety conditions at more than 2,800 stores in 28 US states after inspectors discovered "repeat and serious" health and safety violations at a store in Rochester, New York...
Fast-Food Fight (opinion) New York Times ...As measured by the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour, low-paid work in America is lower paid today than at any time in modern memory...
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficit Shrank In June TradeReform ...The enormous, humongous, vast, staggering, unbelievable, job-sucking, economy-sucking US trade deficit shrank to “only” $34.2 billion from a revised $44.1 billion in May. Exports of US goods and petroleum were up, imports of petroleum and consumer goods were down....
Chasing costs, a ‘sweatshop locator’ New York Times ...Disasters at garment factory buildings in Bangladesh, such as the collapse of this building earlier this year, have the clothing industry looking for new locations to place factories. To find such places, it turns to Li & Fung, a company most American shoppers have never heard of...
BART, unions resume talks as senators add pressure Associated Press ...Bay Area Rapid Transit's management and employee unions resumed contract negotiations Thursday as California's two senators urged the parties resolve the labor dispute and head off a crippling transit strike...
Hearing reveals huge gap between BART management, unions KTVU News ...A fact-finding panel appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown heard firsthand Wednesday how far apart BART and its labor unions remain even though they've been bargaining since April 1...
Tennessee Takes a Bite out of Worker Misclassification Construction Citizen ...A new law in Tennessee gives the state’s Department of Labor (DOL) sharper teeth with which to take a bigger bite out of workers’ compensation fraud in the construction industry...
Ohio payday lenders keep loaning under other laws 5 years after effort to limit such business Associated Press ...Payday lenders targeted by Ohio legislation that banned short-term, high-cost loans five years ago are skirting that crackdown by offering high-interest loans under other laws...
In a state with high voter turnout, a GOP bill targets elderly, early voting MSNBC ...While voting rights advocates have zeroed in on North Carolina where the governor is getting ready to sign a controversial voting law, Republicans in Wisconsin are readying their own voting overhaul...
Monday, July 1, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.01.13
New Study Shows 1/3 of Jobs Prone to Offshore Outsourcing Economic Populist ...The occupational groups identified as being vulnerable to offshoring include office support (e.g., data entry and payroll clerks), auditors and tax preparers, computer programmers and software engineers, medical transcriptionists and paralegals, and technical writers...
Without full-time jobs, workers flock to temp towns Salon ...Short-term work has become a mainstay of the American economy, intensifying the rise in income inequality...
An Unstoppable Climb in C.E.O. Pay New York Times ...the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million — a leap of 16 percent from 2011. ..
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy Salon ...Stop claiming a factory boom will save the country and lift people up. Here's what these jobs really look like...
Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations The Guardian ...The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials...
New Bank of America whistle-blower emerges: More customer abuse secrets Salon ...Bank of America whistle-blower details latest scheme to abuse homeowners, evade settlement rules and pocket cash...
MF Global and Wall Street: Whose Job Is It To Take the Keys Away (opinion) Wall Street On Parade ...Isn’t it the job of Congress to pass laws to ensure that checks and balances exist that prevent powerful men from gaming the system and dipping into customer funds to make casino bets...
War On the Unemployed (opinion) New York Times ...there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable...
Protests overshadow football final in Brazil al-Jazeera ...Protesters hurling petrol bombs have clashed with riot police in Brazil at the Confederations Cup football match, overshadowing the host nation's victory over world champions Spain in the final...
SCI Rejects Last and Best Offer from Teamsters Benzinga ...Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International ... rejected a last and best offer from Teamsters Local 727 and countered with its original proposal to eliminate the employees' pension, health and educational assistance benefits...
Without full-time jobs, workers flock to temp towns Salon ...Short-term work has become a mainstay of the American economy, intensifying the rise in income inequality...
An Unstoppable Climb in C.E.O. Pay New York Times ...the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million — a leap of 16 percent from 2011. ..
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy Salon ...Stop claiming a factory boom will save the country and lift people up. Here's what these jobs really look like...
Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations The Guardian ...The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials...
New Bank of America whistle-blower emerges: More customer abuse secrets Salon ...Bank of America whistle-blower details latest scheme to abuse homeowners, evade settlement rules and pocket cash...
MF Global and Wall Street: Whose Job Is It To Take the Keys Away (opinion) Wall Street On Parade ...Isn’t it the job of Congress to pass laws to ensure that checks and balances exist that prevent powerful men from gaming the system and dipping into customer funds to make casino bets...
War On the Unemployed (opinion) New York Times ...there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable...
Protests overshadow football final in Brazil al-Jazeera ...Protesters hurling petrol bombs have clashed with riot police in Brazil at the Confederations Cup football match, overshadowing the host nation's victory over world champions Spain in the final...
SCI Rejects Last and Best Offer from Teamsters Benzinga ...Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International ... rejected a last and best offer from Teamsters Local 727 and countered with its original proposal to eliminate the employees' pension, health and educational assistance benefits...
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.29.13
China Factory Resolution Reached, US Businessman Released NTD Television ...A U.S. executive and his Chinese workers who held him captive for six days reached a resolution to a row about pay on Thursday...
U.S. Trade Deficit with China Underestimated According to New Study of "Value-Added Trade." manufacture this ...A new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that, after accounting for net trade flows, the U.S. trade deficit with China is greater than has been suggested by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO)...
Chinese wind-turbine firm charged with stealing US trade secrets The Guardian ...Sinovel Wind Group and two of its executives were indicted in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday. A former employee of the Massachusetts-based American Superconductor (AMSC) pleaded guilty in Klagenfurt, Austria, to stealing a source code for turbine controllers...
The 18-year-old voice of Chile's nationwide student uprising The Guardian ...On Wednesday, Moisés Paredes helped organise a march of 100,000 protesters through the streets of Chile's capital, Santiago, calling for free university education...
Poor, middle class unite in Brazil protests CNN ... What started as a student mobilization transformed day by day to incorporate professionals, the middle class, and residents of the favelas, or slums...
Troops allegedly misled by car loan program to get refunds McClatchy ...U.S. Bank and a Kentucky-based financial services provider agreed to refund $6.5 million to 50,000 military service members after federal regulators accused both companies of misleading borrowers about fees and costs associated with an auto loans program that targeted active-duty troops...
Bank of America Said to Send Property Reviews to India Bloomberg ...Bank of America Corp. opened a unit in India to review home-valuation reports as it seeks to rebuild share in U.S. mortgages at a lower cost ... The firm also eliminated jobs of licensed U.S. workers in its LandSafe business...
Senators accuse government of using 'secret law' to collect Americans' data The Guardian ...Bipartisan group seeks answers from intelligence chief James Clapper over scale of and justification for NSA surveillance...
Forced to Work Sick? That's Fine With Disney, Red Lobster, and Their Friends at ALEC Mother Jones ...The Florida law is the most recent in a series of victories by low-wage industries that, with the aid of Republican-led state legislatures, have succeeded in derailing or overriding measures providing this benefit to workers...
North Carolina Dropped From Federal Unemployment Program Associated Press ...With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless...
Here's the truth about Oregon's 'right-to-work' initiative: Guest opinion The Oregonian ...So-called right-to-work laws have nothing to do with anyone being forced to be a member of a union or to support political causes he or she disagrees with...
Teamsters praise passage of enterprise zone reform Teamsters Joint Council 7 ...Teamsters Joint Council 7 hailed passage Thursday of Assembly Bill 93 by the California Assembly and Senate. The bill restructures a $750 million job creation program towards manufacturing employers that create jobs with demonstrable economic benefits for workers and California’s most impoverished communities...
Sun-Times refuses union advertising Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...On June 26, the Chicago Sun-Times refused to run an advertisement from unionized funeral directors employed by Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) which appealed to the public for help in their contract negotiations with the $3 billion corporation...
Religious leaders pledge support in face of possible funeral labor dispute Teamsters Joint Council 25 ... Religious leaders throughout the Chicago area have pledged their support for funeral directors and drivers whose employer, Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), is forcing to the brink of a labor dispute...
Teamsters, UPS agree to extend current UPS national contract IBT ...The Teamsters Union and UPS have agreed to an extension of the current UPS National Master Agreement and all Supplements, Riders and Addenda. The extension does not have a specific end date, but can be terminated by either side with a 30-day notice...
Teamsters Union issues statement on Senate passage of immigration bill IBT ... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters supports a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented men and women already living and working in this country. Keeping these workers in the shadows would continue their exploitation and the downward pressure on wages and labor standards. Bringing them out of the shadows is good policy...
U.S. Trade Deficit with China Underestimated According to New Study of "Value-Added Trade." manufacture this ...A new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that, after accounting for net trade flows, the U.S. trade deficit with China is greater than has been suggested by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO)...
Chinese wind-turbine firm charged with stealing US trade secrets The Guardian ...Sinovel Wind Group and two of its executives were indicted in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday. A former employee of the Massachusetts-based American Superconductor (AMSC) pleaded guilty in Klagenfurt, Austria, to stealing a source code for turbine controllers...
The 18-year-old voice of Chile's nationwide student uprising The Guardian ...On Wednesday, Moisés Paredes helped organise a march of 100,000 protesters through the streets of Chile's capital, Santiago, calling for free university education...
Poor, middle class unite in Brazil protests CNN ... What started as a student mobilization transformed day by day to incorporate professionals, the middle class, and residents of the favelas, or slums...
Troops allegedly misled by car loan program to get refunds McClatchy ...U.S. Bank and a Kentucky-based financial services provider agreed to refund $6.5 million to 50,000 military service members after federal regulators accused both companies of misleading borrowers about fees and costs associated with an auto loans program that targeted active-duty troops...
Bank of America Said to Send Property Reviews to India Bloomberg ...Bank of America Corp. opened a unit in India to review home-valuation reports as it seeks to rebuild share in U.S. mortgages at a lower cost ... The firm also eliminated jobs of licensed U.S. workers in its LandSafe business...
Senators accuse government of using 'secret law' to collect Americans' data The Guardian ...Bipartisan group seeks answers from intelligence chief James Clapper over scale of and justification for NSA surveillance...
Forced to Work Sick? That's Fine With Disney, Red Lobster, and Their Friends at ALEC Mother Jones ...The Florida law is the most recent in a series of victories by low-wage industries that, with the aid of Republican-led state legislatures, have succeeded in derailing or overriding measures providing this benefit to workers...
North Carolina Dropped From Federal Unemployment Program Associated Press ...With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless...
Here's the truth about Oregon's 'right-to-work' initiative: Guest opinion The Oregonian ...So-called right-to-work laws have nothing to do with anyone being forced to be a member of a union or to support political causes he or she disagrees with...
Teamsters praise passage of enterprise zone reform Teamsters Joint Council 7 ...Teamsters Joint Council 7 hailed passage Thursday of Assembly Bill 93 by the California Assembly and Senate. The bill restructures a $750 million job creation program towards manufacturing employers that create jobs with demonstrable economic benefits for workers and California’s most impoverished communities...
Sun-Times refuses union advertising Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...On June 26, the Chicago Sun-Times refused to run an advertisement from unionized funeral directors employed by Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) which appealed to the public for help in their contract negotiations with the $3 billion corporation...
Religious leaders pledge support in face of possible funeral labor dispute Teamsters Joint Council 25 ... Religious leaders throughout the Chicago area have pledged their support for funeral directors and drivers whose employer, Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), is forcing to the brink of a labor dispute...
Teamsters, UPS agree to extend current UPS national contract IBT ...The Teamsters Union and UPS have agreed to an extension of the current UPS National Master Agreement and all Supplements, Riders and Addenda. The extension does not have a specific end date, but can be terminated by either side with a 30-day notice...
Teamsters Union issues statement on Senate passage of immigration bill IBT ... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters supports a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented men and women already living and working in this country. Keeping these workers in the shadows would continue their exploitation and the downward pressure on wages and labor standards. Bringing them out of the shadows is good policy...
Friday, June 28, 2013
Steal $1B? Pay a fine. Criticize banks? 13 years.
A California man who chalked "Stop Big Banks" on a sidewalk faces a possible prison sentence of 13 years, while a banker whose firm "disappeared" $1.2 billion dollars faces no jail time whatsoever.
The California man, Jonathan Olson, is a former aide to the U.S. senator from Washington. Blogger Jonathan Turley tells us he can't even bring up the First Amendment during his trial.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The California man, Jonathan Olson, is a former aide to the U.S. senator from Washington. Blogger Jonathan Turley tells us he can't even bring up the First Amendment during his trial.
Olson used water-soluble statements like “Stop big banks,” and “Stop Bank Blight.com” outside Bank of America branches last year to protest the company’s practices. He eventually gave up his protest but prosecutors later brought 13 charges against him. Now a judge has reportedly banned his attorney from “mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial.” It appears someone associated with Bank of American could finally go to jail, but it will not by the bank officials in the financial scandal. It is the guy writing slogans in chalk in the sidewalk.Jon Corzine, the former head of MF Global, faces a fine because his company robbed clients of $1.2 billion.
 |
| Corzine |
Federal regulators on Thursday filed civil charges against former MF Global Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Jon S. Corzine and a top lieutenant for overseeing the misuse of almost $1 billion in customer funds, saying Mr. Corzine "bears responsibility" for the New York commodities brokerage's 2011 demise...
The agency also charged a former executive at the firm, Edith O'Brien, with misusing customer funds, saying she aided and abetted the violations. The agency is seeking monetary penalties from Mr. Corzine and Ms. O'Brien and to ban the two from ever again trading commodities on Wall Street.
The CFTC's 47-page complaint depicts Mr. Corzine as instrumental in making decisions that put customer accounts at risk by allegedly moving money in violation of strict rules prohibiting such transfers.Here's how relentlessly Bank of America went after Jonathan Olson, according to Turley:
Darell Freeman, vice president of Bank of America’s Global Corporate Security ... reportedly demanded action from local prosecutors. Olson stopped when contacted by the San Diego Gang Unit in 2012.
Yet, the bank insisted the chalk caused $6,000 to clean up, a rather suspicious claim. These were slogans written on the sidewalk. Prosecutors hit him with 13 counts of misdemeanor vandalism charges and $13,000 in restitution to the City and to Bank of America.
Freeman reportedly continued to hound police to bring charges and reports state that on April 15, Deputy City Attorney Paige Hazard contacted Freeman with the good news. “I wanted to let you know that we will be filing 13 counts of vandalism as a result of the incidents you reported.”Economic Populist writes:
If the CFTC wins their civil lawsuit against Corzine, beyond being banned from trading, they could impose stiff personal penalties. Generally speaking it looks like Corzine will be personally sued into political and economic oblivion as he has been bombarded with private lawsuits already in addition to the government now filing civil litigation against him. Yet of course no one is actually going to jail for illegally using and losing over $1 billion of customer's funds.
Contrast that with the 20 year prison sentence commonly imposed for sticking up the local 7/11.Or with a 13-year prison sentence for writing in chalk on a sidewalk.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.18.13
7-Eleven Stores Operated 'Modern Day Plantation System,' Feds Claim ABC News ...The owners of 7-Eleven franchises in New York and Virginia created a "modern day plantation system" in which undocumented workers were furnished with stolen identities and forced to work 100 hours a week for a fraction of their wages, according to a federal authorities...
McD's worker sues: Don't pay by debit card The Times Leader ...When she received her first paycheck, enclosed was a Chase Bank debit card with instructions on how to use it and the fees attached...
U.S. chief records officer details federal e-mail record-keeping programs Washington Post ...Cabinet officials have used (secret) alternative e-mail accounts in addition to government addresses to conduct federal business...
Apple releases information on data requests from NSA, other agencies Los Angeles Times ...Apple Inc., said it received 4,000 to 5,000 requests for customer data from U.S. officials during the six months ending in May, as it became the latest high-tech company to provide some details on its involvement in the National Security Agency's Internet surveillance program...
Trade Agreements, Privacy, and the Cloud MacLean’s ...What does privacy have to do with trade agreements? As Canada, the U.S., and nine other countries negotiate a multilateral trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP, U.S. negotiators are pushing to include a provision that would commit members to allowing free-flow of data over their borders...
More Bangladesh Factories Dangerous Associated Press ...A separate inspection, by the garment industry, of 200 risky factories found that 10 percent of them were so dangerous that they were ordered to shut. The textiles minister said a third inspection, conducted by the government, could show that as many as 300 factories were unsafe...
Turkey unrest: Unions call strike over crackdown BBC News ...Turkish unions have called a strike to protest against the police crackdown on demonstrators...
Biggest protests in 20 years sweep Brazil Reuters ...As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption...
Bank Of America Paid Foreclosure Bonuses While Lying To Homeowners Think Progress ...One of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers intentionally, knowingly, and routinely falsifies paperwork and lies to homeowners in order to boot them from their homes, according to bank insiders...
Why Let a Bank Write U.S. Financial Reform Legislation? (opinion) Huffington Post ...Reasonable people would agree that a bank having a history of involvement with fraud and mismanagement (and a recipient of one of the largest bank bailouts) shouldn't be writing bank legislation. Unless, of course, you are the U.S. Congress doing business as usual...
Justices: Arizona voter registration rules go too far USA Today ...The Supreme Court ruled handily Monday that Arizona cannot add to federal voter registration requirements by demanding proof of citizenship...
California Gov. Brown targets enterprise zone tax credits Appeal Democrat ...A battle is raging over a California program that grants businesses tax breaks for creating jobs but prevents the public from knowing who got them and why…
Michigan foreclosure bills would give banks the upper hand (opinion) Detroit Free Press ...On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee passed a package of foreclosure bills that will set Michigan back decades in its efforts to prevent foreclosures and the damage they cause to families, neighborhoods, communities and our still fragile economy...
RI could be 3rd US state to OK paid leave for workers caring for children, spouses or parents Associated Press ...People ... who care for a new child or sick loved one could continue receiving pay for up to eight weeks under a proposal pending in Rhode Island's General Assembly...
Scott blocks paid sick-time vote in Orange, statewide Sun Sentinel ...Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday that would block local governments from enacting mandatory paid-sick-time measures. Scott sided with Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and a broad array of powerful business interests that argued the ban was needed to avoid a patchwork of local employment rules for companies...
Iowa cities bypass state to halt payday lenders Associated Press ...Efforts to limit payday lenders in Iowa have repeatedly failed in the Legislature, but more cities are approving zoning changes that make it harder to open the businesses...
Christine Quinn Snags Teamsters Unions’ Endorsement Politicker ...City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has snagged the endorsement of the 120,000-member strong Teamsters Joint Council 16 in New York for mayor...
Seattle Teamsters Support Even Playing Field for Taxis Teamsters Local 117 ...Ride sharing and other flat rate taxis in Seattle are undercutting unionized taxi drivers...
McD's worker sues: Don't pay by debit card The Times Leader ...When she received her first paycheck, enclosed was a Chase Bank debit card with instructions on how to use it and the fees attached...
U.S. chief records officer details federal e-mail record-keeping programs Washington Post ...Cabinet officials have used (secret) alternative e-mail accounts in addition to government addresses to conduct federal business...
Apple releases information on data requests from NSA, other agencies Los Angeles Times ...Apple Inc., said it received 4,000 to 5,000 requests for customer data from U.S. officials during the six months ending in May, as it became the latest high-tech company to provide some details on its involvement in the National Security Agency's Internet surveillance program...
Trade Agreements, Privacy, and the Cloud MacLean’s ...What does privacy have to do with trade agreements? As Canada, the U.S., and nine other countries negotiate a multilateral trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP, U.S. negotiators are pushing to include a provision that would commit members to allowing free-flow of data over their borders...
More Bangladesh Factories Dangerous Associated Press ...A separate inspection, by the garment industry, of 200 risky factories found that 10 percent of them were so dangerous that they were ordered to shut. The textiles minister said a third inspection, conducted by the government, could show that as many as 300 factories were unsafe...
Turkey unrest: Unions call strike over crackdown BBC News ...Turkish unions have called a strike to protest against the police crackdown on demonstrators...
Biggest protests in 20 years sweep Brazil Reuters ...As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption...
Bank Of America Paid Foreclosure Bonuses While Lying To Homeowners Think Progress ...One of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers intentionally, knowingly, and routinely falsifies paperwork and lies to homeowners in order to boot them from their homes, according to bank insiders...
Why Let a Bank Write U.S. Financial Reform Legislation? (opinion) Huffington Post ...Reasonable people would agree that a bank having a history of involvement with fraud and mismanagement (and a recipient of one of the largest bank bailouts) shouldn't be writing bank legislation. Unless, of course, you are the U.S. Congress doing business as usual...
Justices: Arizona voter registration rules go too far USA Today ...The Supreme Court ruled handily Monday that Arizona cannot add to federal voter registration requirements by demanding proof of citizenship...
California Gov. Brown targets enterprise zone tax credits Appeal Democrat ...A battle is raging over a California program that grants businesses tax breaks for creating jobs but prevents the public from knowing who got them and why…
Michigan foreclosure bills would give banks the upper hand (opinion) Detroit Free Press ...On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee passed a package of foreclosure bills that will set Michigan back decades in its efforts to prevent foreclosures and the damage they cause to families, neighborhoods, communities and our still fragile economy...
RI could be 3rd US state to OK paid leave for workers caring for children, spouses or parents Associated Press ...People ... who care for a new child or sick loved one could continue receiving pay for up to eight weeks under a proposal pending in Rhode Island's General Assembly...
Scott blocks paid sick-time vote in Orange, statewide Sun Sentinel ...Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday that would block local governments from enacting mandatory paid-sick-time measures. Scott sided with Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and a broad array of powerful business interests that argued the ban was needed to avoid a patchwork of local employment rules for companies...
Iowa cities bypass state to halt payday lenders Associated Press ...Efforts to limit payday lenders in Iowa have repeatedly failed in the Legislature, but more cities are approving zoning changes that make it harder to open the businesses...
Christine Quinn Snags Teamsters Unions’ Endorsement Politicker ...City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has snagged the endorsement of the 120,000-member strong Teamsters Joint Council 16 in New York for mayor...
Seattle Teamsters Support Even Playing Field for Taxis Teamsters Local 117 ...Ride sharing and other flat rate taxis in Seattle are undercutting unionized taxi drivers...
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Today's Teamster News 05.23.13
The IRS controversy isn’t about taxes. It’s about disclosure. Washington Post ...Some of the last week’s headlines might have led you to believe that there’s some controversy over whether tea party groups should have to pay taxes. There isn’t. No one thinks they should. The dispute is over whether they should have to disclose their donors, as a legal matter and as a moral one...
The DC Circuit Court Versus Workers' Rights Truthout ...Republicans and anti-union groups have gone all-out to stymie the work of the labor board, and they have found a powerful ally in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals...
Chile’s Recent Lead Negotiator on Trans-Pacific Partnership Warns It Could Be a “Threat to Our Countries” naked capitalism ...Some of Asian participants in the negotiations (particularly Japan) are also believed to have serious reservations about the provisions of the TPP that would weaken national sovereignity by allowing corporations to challenge laws and regulations as violations of the TPP...
NOAA still planning to furlough storm forecasters Politico ...Congress isn’t rushing to stave off looming furloughs for federal weather forecasters, even after they issued tornado warnings credited with saving countless lives in Oklahoma...
Anheuser-Busch Delivers More Than 51,000 Cans Of Water To Assist Tornado Relief Efforts In Oklahoma City, Also Donates $25,000 to Red Cross Tulsa Business & Legal News ...America's leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch, is providing 2,156 cases of emergency drinking water — or 51,744 cans — for use by relief workers and residents affected by the tornado in Oklahoma City and its surrounding suburbs...
No Arrests on Wall Street, But Over 7,700 Americans Have Been Arrested Protesting Big Banks The Contributor ...the nation’s biggest banks have essentially gained “too big for trial” status, and the federal government has failed to prosecute any executive at a Big Bank for financial fraud...
Nearly 20,000 Nevada homeowners get average of $97,000 in mortgage relief Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Nearly 20,000 Nevada homeowners have received an average of about $97,000 as part of the $25 billion national settlement over questionable foreclosure and lending practices by some of the nation’s largest financial institutions...
Monitor Checking Into Violations of Mortgage Settlement Wall Street Journal ...The announcement that Smith is looking into potential violations comes a week after New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would sue BofA and Wells over complaints they did not provide fair and timely service to homeowners seeking relief...
Crowd size and arrest totals increase at latest Moral Monday protest IndyWeek ...Roughly 600 people gathered outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Monday as part of a growing wave of protests called Moral Mondays, which have now led to 153 arrests over four weeks…. Policies that are being considered or have already become law include cutting Medicaid and unemployment benefits, instituting voter ID, promoting school vouchers, raising taxes on the poor, rolling back environmental standards and limiting felons' voting rights...
In Indiana, ongoing concerns about subsidized auto parts from China and Japan manufacture this ...more than 400,000 jobs in the U.S. auto supply chain have been lost since 2000. One major problem is China's persistent violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and another 1.6 million U.S. jobs are at risk unless China's illegal trading practices are curtailed...
Pennsylvania Governor can't find any Latinos to work for him United Press ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said there are no Latinos in his administration because he can't find any...
RI Senate OKs minimum wage hike Associated Press ...Rhode Island’s minimum wage would go up 25 cents to $8 per hour next year under legislation approved in the state Senate...
Illinois Chemical Workers Ratify Four-Year Teamster Contract Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...More than 200 members of Teamsters Local 179 overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement with Stepan Company this month...
Local 115 member and Marine vet wins mayoral primary in Brookhaven (Penn.) Daily Times ...Teamster and Marine veteran Daniel McCray won Tuesday’s primary election and will face Democrat Incumbent Mayor Michael Hess in the November election...
Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS among most valuable brands Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...Three metro Atlanta-based companies have something in common when it comes to their brands’ ability to add value to their business...
SOUL letter calls University to stand behind Pierce dining employees Chicago Maroon ...Concerned about the future of employees at Pierce Dining Commons, members of Students Organizing United with Labor delivered letters yesterday afternoon to Director of Campus Dining Richard Mason and President Zimmer’s office, calling on the University to pressure Aramark to negotiate with Teamsters Union representatives...
Bay City negotiators, mid-management union will return to negotiating table after deal rejected Michigan Live ...It’s back to the negotiating table for Bay City Hall and members of the Teamsters State, County & Municipal Workers, Local No. 214, officials say...
The DC Circuit Court Versus Workers' Rights Truthout ...Republicans and anti-union groups have gone all-out to stymie the work of the labor board, and they have found a powerful ally in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals...
Chile’s Recent Lead Negotiator on Trans-Pacific Partnership Warns It Could Be a “Threat to Our Countries” naked capitalism ...Some of Asian participants in the negotiations (particularly Japan) are also believed to have serious reservations about the provisions of the TPP that would weaken national sovereignity by allowing corporations to challenge laws and regulations as violations of the TPP...
NOAA still planning to furlough storm forecasters Politico ...Congress isn’t rushing to stave off looming furloughs for federal weather forecasters, even after they issued tornado warnings credited with saving countless lives in Oklahoma...
Anheuser-Busch Delivers More Than 51,000 Cans Of Water To Assist Tornado Relief Efforts In Oklahoma City, Also Donates $25,000 to Red Cross Tulsa Business & Legal News ...America's leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch, is providing 2,156 cases of emergency drinking water — or 51,744 cans — for use by relief workers and residents affected by the tornado in Oklahoma City and its surrounding suburbs...
No Arrests on Wall Street, But Over 7,700 Americans Have Been Arrested Protesting Big Banks The Contributor ...the nation’s biggest banks have essentially gained “too big for trial” status, and the federal government has failed to prosecute any executive at a Big Bank for financial fraud...
Nearly 20,000 Nevada homeowners get average of $97,000 in mortgage relief Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Nearly 20,000 Nevada homeowners have received an average of about $97,000 as part of the $25 billion national settlement over questionable foreclosure and lending practices by some of the nation’s largest financial institutions...
Monitor Checking Into Violations of Mortgage Settlement Wall Street Journal ...The announcement that Smith is looking into potential violations comes a week after New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would sue BofA and Wells over complaints they did not provide fair and timely service to homeowners seeking relief...
Crowd size and arrest totals increase at latest Moral Monday protest IndyWeek ...Roughly 600 people gathered outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Monday as part of a growing wave of protests called Moral Mondays, which have now led to 153 arrests over four weeks…. Policies that are being considered or have already become law include cutting Medicaid and unemployment benefits, instituting voter ID, promoting school vouchers, raising taxes on the poor, rolling back environmental standards and limiting felons' voting rights...
In Indiana, ongoing concerns about subsidized auto parts from China and Japan manufacture this ...more than 400,000 jobs in the U.S. auto supply chain have been lost since 2000. One major problem is China's persistent violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and another 1.6 million U.S. jobs are at risk unless China's illegal trading practices are curtailed...
Pennsylvania Governor can't find any Latinos to work for him United Press ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said there are no Latinos in his administration because he can't find any...
RI Senate OKs minimum wage hike Associated Press ...Rhode Island’s minimum wage would go up 25 cents to $8 per hour next year under legislation approved in the state Senate...
Illinois Chemical Workers Ratify Four-Year Teamster Contract Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...More than 200 members of Teamsters Local 179 overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement with Stepan Company this month...
Local 115 member and Marine vet wins mayoral primary in Brookhaven (Penn.) Daily Times ...Teamster and Marine veteran Daniel McCray won Tuesday’s primary election and will face Democrat Incumbent Mayor Michael Hess in the November election...
Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS among most valuable brands Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...Three metro Atlanta-based companies have something in common when it comes to their brands’ ability to add value to their business...
SOUL letter calls University to stand behind Pierce dining employees Chicago Maroon ...Concerned about the future of employees at Pierce Dining Commons, members of Students Organizing United with Labor delivered letters yesterday afternoon to Director of Campus Dining Richard Mason and President Zimmer’s office, calling on the University to pressure Aramark to negotiate with Teamsters Union representatives...
Bay City negotiators, mid-management union will return to negotiating table after deal rejected Michigan Live ...It’s back to the negotiating table for Bay City Hall and members of the Teamsters State, County & Municipal Workers, Local No. 214, officials say...
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Today's Teamster News 04.27.13
PBS Drops Another Bombshell: Wall Street Is Gobbling Up Two-Thirds of Your 401(k) Wall Street on Parade ...If you work for 50 years and receive the typical long-term return of 7 percent on your 401(k) plan and your fees are 2 percent, almost two-thirds of your account will go to Wall Street...
Error Claims Cast Doubt on Bank of America Foreclosures in Bay Area NBC Bay Area ...Despite recent settlements with state and federal regulators and a new California law that tightens rules for the mortgage industry, banks and their subsidiaries continue to file invalid documents and foreclose on properties to which they appear to have no legal right, an analysis of thousands of pages of property records and wrongful foreclosure lawsuits shows...
US Lets Swiss Banks, Accused of Aiding Tax Fraud, Avoid Prosecution with Fines The Real News ...this notion of paying money, it kind of reeks of the U.S. justice for sale...
Obama Budget Plan Results In 'Back Door' Tax Increase For Middle-Class Households: Analysis Huffington Post ...With Obama’s budget change, taxpayers would move into higher income tax brackets and face higher tax rates more quickly than they would have before...
The Decline of Emergency Care The Atlantic ...Trauma centers and emergency departments across the U.S. have been closing at alarming rates. The people who stand to lose the most are those already put at a disadvantage by the health-care system...
Putting Water Back in Public Hands The Real News ...Paris and other cities have remunicipalised water that had been privatized saving users money and introducing more democracy and transparency...
290 dead as high street fashion chains told to put lives before profits after Bangladeshi factory collapse The Independent ...Death toll passes 290 as staff describe how they were ordered to continue production despite raising concerns over huge cracks in the eight-storey structure...
Error Claims Cast Doubt on Bank of America Foreclosures in Bay Area NBC Bay Area ...Despite recent settlements with state and federal regulators and a new California law that tightens rules for the mortgage industry, banks and their subsidiaries continue to file invalid documents and foreclose on properties to which they appear to have no legal right, an analysis of thousands of pages of property records and wrongful foreclosure lawsuits shows...
US Lets Swiss Banks, Accused of Aiding Tax Fraud, Avoid Prosecution with Fines The Real News ...this notion of paying money, it kind of reeks of the U.S. justice for sale...
Obama Budget Plan Results In 'Back Door' Tax Increase For Middle-Class Households: Analysis Huffington Post ...With Obama’s budget change, taxpayers would move into higher income tax brackets and face higher tax rates more quickly than they would have before...
The Decline of Emergency Care The Atlantic ...Trauma centers and emergency departments across the U.S. have been closing at alarming rates. The people who stand to lose the most are those already put at a disadvantage by the health-care system...
Putting Water Back in Public Hands The Real News ...Paris and other cities have remunicipalised water that had been privatized saving users money and introducing more democracy and transparency...
290 dead as high street fashion chains told to put lives before profits after Bangladeshi factory collapse The Independent ...Death toll passes 290 as staff describe how they were ordered to continue production despite raising concerns over huge cracks in the eight-storey structure...
Report by Progress Missouri Highlights ALEC Infiltration in MO Center for Media and Democracy ...More than forty bills introduced in the Missouri state legislature echo American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation, and at least 60 legislators are ALEC members, according to a new report from Progress Missouri...
Appeals panel asks state Supreme Court to take up union bargaining law Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...An appeals panel asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to quickly take up a case over Gov. Scott Walker's controversial law on collective bargaining, saying the high court should decide the issue without an appellate ruling on it...
For foreign land investors, Wisconsin's not yet wide open for business The Cap Times ...A Gov. Scott Walker budget proposal to lift restrictions on the purchase of state land by foreigners — an idea critics said would drive up rural land prices — was removed from the budget Thursday by the Joint Finance Committee...
Why is Scott Walker skipping the big Koch conference? The Cap Times ...This weekend, industrialist billionaires Charles and David Koch are convening a group of conservative power brokers in Palm Springs, Calif., to discuss what went wrong in the 2012 election...
Pennsylvania Think Tank Plans to 'Slay' Unions, Like in Wisconsin The Nation ...The Commonwealth Foundation, a right-wing think tank in Harrisburg, is plotting to go after public sector employee unions...
Fla. House passes 'wage theft' bill 71-45 Tampa Bay Times ...Opponents have blasted HB 1125 as a “Tallahassee power grab” that protects big corporations and business owners who withhold wages from their workers...
Teamsters approve 'optimization' plan with YRC Freight Central Pennsylvania Business Journal ...YRC Freight, a division of Kansas-based trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc., this week said it has received approval from the Teamsters union that represents its employees to move forward with an “optimization plan” that will result in the closure of some facilities around the country...
Teamsters Urge "Special Pay Issue" Raises For Florida Correctional Officers IBT ..."One important way the Florida Legislature can observe National Correctional Officers' Week this year is to enact "special pay issue raises" for employees of the Florida Department of Corrections…"
Teamsters union chides Allegheny County over negotiations Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...The union that represents about 600 Allegheny County employees said the administration is "taking a hard line" and not properly negotiating with it...
UPS’s New Contract With Teamsters Removes Strike Threat Bloomberg ...United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and the Teamsters union agreed to a new five-year contract covering 250,000 employees, erasing the risk that some business might be lost through just the threat of a strike...
Appeals panel asks state Supreme Court to take up union bargaining law Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...An appeals panel asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to quickly take up a case over Gov. Scott Walker's controversial law on collective bargaining, saying the high court should decide the issue without an appellate ruling on it...
For foreign land investors, Wisconsin's not yet wide open for business The Cap Times ...A Gov. Scott Walker budget proposal to lift restrictions on the purchase of state land by foreigners — an idea critics said would drive up rural land prices — was removed from the budget Thursday by the Joint Finance Committee...
Why is Scott Walker skipping the big Koch conference? The Cap Times ...This weekend, industrialist billionaires Charles and David Koch are convening a group of conservative power brokers in Palm Springs, Calif., to discuss what went wrong in the 2012 election...
Pennsylvania Think Tank Plans to 'Slay' Unions, Like in Wisconsin The Nation ...The Commonwealth Foundation, a right-wing think tank in Harrisburg, is plotting to go after public sector employee unions...
Fla. House passes 'wage theft' bill 71-45 Tampa Bay Times ...Opponents have blasted HB 1125 as a “Tallahassee power grab” that protects big corporations and business owners who withhold wages from their workers...
Teamsters approve 'optimization' plan with YRC Freight Central Pennsylvania Business Journal ...YRC Freight, a division of Kansas-based trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc., this week said it has received approval from the Teamsters union that represents its employees to move forward with an “optimization plan” that will result in the closure of some facilities around the country...
Teamsters Urge "Special Pay Issue" Raises For Florida Correctional Officers IBT ..."One important way the Florida Legislature can observe National Correctional Officers' Week this year is to enact "special pay issue raises" for employees of the Florida Department of Corrections…"
Teamsters union chides Allegheny County over negotiations Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...The union that represents about 600 Allegheny County employees said the administration is "taking a hard line" and not properly negotiating with it...
UPS’s New Contract With Teamsters Removes Strike Threat Bloomberg ...United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and the Teamsters union agreed to a new five-year contract covering 250,000 employees, erasing the risk that some business might be lost through just the threat of a strike...
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