Teamster News
AGY Seeks 'Collective Bargaining Agreement' Aiken Standard ...AGY released a statement in response to a demonstration by employees that was initially called a strike, but is now being called a "lockout". Employees of the plant began standing outside the plant entrances on Wagener Road and U.S. 78 on Friday...
Teamsters back cutting Swift CEO voting power with stock structure changes Overdrive ...The Teamsters union is pushing a plan to change Swift Transportation’s dual-class stock structure in order to give stockholders equal voting power...
Jeff Klein Snags Teamsters Endorsement New York Observer ...State Senator Jeff Klein, who is facing a Democratic primary challenge, is set to snag the endorsement of the teamsters union later this morning–marking one of his largest union nods so far...
Convention Center: Teamsters, Carpenters could be out by weekend Philly.com ...THE TEAMSTERS and carpenters who set up exhibits at the Pennsylvania Convention Center could find themselves out of work by Saturday, after refusing yesterday to sign a labor agreement that changes their work rules...
Trade
U.S. Trade Deficit Drops 3.6 Percent In March ABC News ...The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as exports rebounded to the second highest level on record, led by strong gains in sales of aircraft, autos and farm goods...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Looks To Curb Union Fee Collection The Missourian ...The Missouri Senate is expected to debate legislation this week that would curb the ability of public employee unions to collect fees from workers' paychecks...
Surprise! 'Pro-business' policies hurt state economic growth (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...What's worst about these ALEC policies, Chinn reports, is that the relentless budget-cutting they require leave crucial state services, particularly education, gasping for breath. That's a formula for long-term decline, not growth...
Tax Breaks Abound in Wisconsin, but Job Growth Remains Slow Wisconsin Budget Project ...Wisconsin lawmakers have cut taxes 43 times since 2011, reducing revenue by $1.9 billion over that period and limiting investments in Wisconsin’s schools, workforce, and transportation networks. Despite – or because of – the substantial tax cuts, private sector job growth in Wisconsin has been slower than the national average...
Companies Ramp Up Fight Against $10.10 Wage CNN Money ...Businesses are pulling out all the stops to fight a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 from $7.25 an hour. A new commercial went up on cable news channels last week from the Employment Policies Institute...
War On Workers
Even Millionaires Think The Rich Should Pay Higher Taxes Huffington Post ...In the heated debate of inequality, the wealthy are usually portrayed as the cause rather than the solution. But CNBC's first-ever Millionaire Survey reveals that 51 percent of American millionaires believe inequality is a "major problem" for the U.S. and nearly two-thirds support higher taxes on the wealthy...
Billionaires try to convince Americans it’s good to import foreign workers, increase immigration Bangor Daily News ...Since 2007, political lobbies spent a whopping $1.5 billion to expand immigration, according to the watchdog Sunlight Foundation...
Jungle Jack Frustrated With The Koch Brothers Involvement In Columbus Zoo Levy WBNS ...One of the most recognized faces in Central Ohio - Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - says he is frustrated by the involvement of a Washington, DC based group and it's efforts to defeat the Columbus Zoo levy...
Koch Group Tries To Sink Ohio Zoo’s Tax Proposal: ‘There Is No Issue We Won’t Get Involved In’ Think Progress ...a proposal for a modest tax increase to fund the zoo’s programs has attracted the attention of Americans for Prosperity, a national group funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch...
Bombshell Report: $100 Million in Taxpayer $$ Wasted or Stolen by Deregulated Charter Industry Diane Ravitch's Blog ...A new report reveals massive waste, fraud, and corruption in the charter industry, where private corporations control public funds with minimal oversight or accountability...
Oregon Woman Wins 3-Year Fight Against Wells Fargo Foreclosure ABC News ... her mortgage payments have been deposited by Wells Fargo. Despite efforts to clear up the mistake and paying more than $12,000 in attorney fees, her home went into judicial foreclosure...
Miscellaneous
The World Will Have Its First Trillionaire Within 25 Years Think Progress ...Billionaires will finally have someone to envy by 2040. The world will mint its first trillionaire within 25 years as the wealthiest people's investment gains push global inequality wider and wider...
How the Middle Class Lifestyle Became Unaffordable oftwominds.com ...As the real economy stagnated, the state (which includes the Federal Reserve) incentivized financialization and speculative credit bubbles to keep the money flowing to feed its own spending...
Oh, Good: More Sports Teams Asking Taxpayers To Pay For Their Stadiums Mother Jones ...Cleveland's professional sports teams have poured more than a million dollars into a fight they're hoping will end in victory on Tuesday. The end goal isn't a championship, though--it's a municipal tax extension...
Showing posts with label bank regulation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank regulation. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.15.13
Are Young Workers the Future of Labor? In These Times ...nearly two-thirds of 18–29-year olds have a favorable impression of unions, more than any other age bracket. The time is ripe for labor leaders to bring the next generation into the fold...
FAMILY Act: 'Good for Everyone' AFL-CIO Now ...The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, introduced today by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), will "grant families access to the paid leave they so desperately need" and "improve job security for all families who have to choose between caring for a family member and a paycheck at times of greatest stress..."
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial Rolling Stone ...the subprime bubble exploded because financial companies and banks were in a mad rush to get as many iffy borrowers into loans as quickly as possible – and not because they were forced to...
Wikileaks TPP Revelations Prove US in "Left Field" With Trade Deal The Real News ...The revelations demonstrate deep disagreement between the United States and negotiating parties on the issues of intellectual property, agricultural subsidies, and financial services...
Don’t Get Too Excited About the Volcker Rule The Nation ...The real solution will not come until another Congress or a new president find the courage to break them up, cut them down to size and restore the old Glass-Steagall division of commercial banking from investment banking...
Nike and Levi’s Working to Kill U.S. Jobs and Industry Trade Reform ...They have a few white collar and design jobs in the U.S., but make their money by moving production from the U.S. to elsewhere… taking entire industries and communities in the process...
The War Over Austerity Is Over. Republicans Won. Mother Jones ... In their first budget after re-taking the majority—the FY 2012 Ryan budget, passed in 2011—the House Republicans wanted discretionary spending to be $1.039 trillion in 2014 and $1.047 trillion in 2015…. this proposed deal with the Democrats would put discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion in 2014 and $1.014 trillion in 2015...
Telling Fast Food Workers To 'Get A Better Job' Is Nonsense, In 1 Chart Huffington Post ...For every job that pays a median wage of at least $15 an hour there are 7 job seekers...
FAMILY Act: 'Good for Everyone' AFL-CIO Now ...The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, introduced today by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), will "grant families access to the paid leave they so desperately need" and "improve job security for all families who have to choose between caring for a family member and a paycheck at times of greatest stress..."
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial Rolling Stone ...the subprime bubble exploded because financial companies and banks were in a mad rush to get as many iffy borrowers into loans as quickly as possible – and not because they were forced to...
Wikileaks TPP Revelations Prove US in "Left Field" With Trade Deal The Real News ...The revelations demonstrate deep disagreement between the United States and negotiating parties on the issues of intellectual property, agricultural subsidies, and financial services...
Don’t Get Too Excited About the Volcker Rule The Nation ...The real solution will not come until another Congress or a new president find the courage to break them up, cut them down to size and restore the old Glass-Steagall division of commercial banking from investment banking...
Nike and Levi’s Working to Kill U.S. Jobs and Industry Trade Reform ...They have a few white collar and design jobs in the U.S., but make their money by moving production from the U.S. to elsewhere… taking entire industries and communities in the process...
The War Over Austerity Is Over. Republicans Won. Mother Jones ... In their first budget after re-taking the majority—the FY 2012 Ryan budget, passed in 2011—the House Republicans wanted discretionary spending to be $1.039 trillion in 2014 and $1.047 trillion in 2015…. this proposed deal with the Democrats would put discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion in 2014 and $1.014 trillion in 2015...
Telling Fast Food Workers To 'Get A Better Job' Is Nonsense, In 1 Chart Huffington Post ...For every job that pays a median wage of at least $15 an hour there are 7 job seekers...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Five years after bailouts, the rich are even richer
Oh wait.
Over the last three years of recovery, income for the top five percent has grown more than five percent while income for the rest of us fell.
Think Progress reports:
Overall income growth has been paltry since the recession, according to the Census report. After median household income fell for two years, it has leveled off, seeing virtually no growth over the past two. It was $51,017 in 2012, 8.3 percent lower than in 2007.
But the rich are doing far better. The top 5 percent was making $191,157 or more in 2012, while the bottom fifth made $20,599 or less.
It’s amazing how little has changed in five years. Economist Dean Baker writes:
As we mark the fifth anniversary of the Wall Street bailouts, it is clear that little has changed in the way they do business. They are still engaging in the same sorts of market manipulation and tax gaming as they did before the crisis.
The weak conditions on the bailout money had no lasting effect in areas like executive compensation. The industry itself is more concentrated than ever as the big banks used the crisis to merge with other banks, making them even bigger. And the Dodd-Frank reforms have been watered down to the extent that many are now pointless.
Five years ago, this seemed impossible. In September of 2008, the world was on the brink of economic meltdown. Governments scrambled to rescue big banks. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave grim reports to the nation. They said unprecedented intervention was needed and they assured us that sweeping regulatory reforms would follow.
That was right after huge debts that piled up in a shadow banking system popped the housing bubble. The iconic investment giant Lehman Brothers collapsed, sending shockwaves through the world financial system and taking down banks and corporations worldwide. There was long overdue rage directed at the greedy CEOs and bankers who made billions off of predatory subprime mortgages and complex financial instruments – literally betting on people losing their homes and lifesavings.
There was even talk of nationalizing the banks. At the very least, a system overhaul was promised, with tighter regulations to stop the reckless gambling of Wall Street’s “casino culture.”
But today the casino is still pulling in huge profits – thanks to taxpayer money that rescued it in the first place. Remember when we were told the taxpayer bailout program called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) was necessary to help underwater homeowners? That didn't happen. It was supposed to help banks start lending again as well, and that didn't happen either. The banks sat on enormous stockpiles of money. Even up to the first three months of 2012, major banks cut lending by $24 million.
All of that free government money that went to Wall Street resulted in an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the middle class to the super-rich. As the government took on the colossal debts of the high finance fraudsters, it led to soaring deficits and the ensuing budget cuts that devastated public services and the social safety net – all in the name of austerity.
It was a grand heist by the rich against middle-class workers and the poor.
Five years after the 2008 crash, 95 percent of gains made since the recovery have gone to the top 1 percent. Meanwhile for the bottom 60 percent wages have been stagnant or declining. And almost 25 percent of homeowners with mortgages are underwater.
So that wonderful recovery we’ve all heard about since the onset of the Great Recession? It’s been a recovery almost exclusively for the Wall Street tycoons who engineered the economic crisis. The rest of us are still paying for it.
According to the Guardian:
That was right after huge debts that piled up in a shadow banking system popped the housing bubble. The iconic investment giant Lehman Brothers collapsed, sending shockwaves through the world financial system and taking down banks and corporations worldwide. There was long overdue rage directed at the greedy CEOs and bankers who made billions off of predatory subprime mortgages and complex financial instruments – literally betting on people losing their homes and lifesavings.
There was even talk of nationalizing the banks. At the very least, a system overhaul was promised, with tighter regulations to stop the reckless gambling of Wall Street’s “casino culture.”
But today the casino is still pulling in huge profits – thanks to taxpayer money that rescued it in the first place. Remember when we were told the taxpayer bailout program called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) was necessary to help underwater homeowners? That didn't happen. It was supposed to help banks start lending again as well, and that didn't happen either. The banks sat on enormous stockpiles of money. Even up to the first three months of 2012, major banks cut lending by $24 million.
All of that free government money that went to Wall Street resulted in an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the middle class to the super-rich. As the government took on the colossal debts of the high finance fraudsters, it led to soaring deficits and the ensuing budget cuts that devastated public services and the social safety net – all in the name of austerity.
It was a grand heist by the rich against middle-class workers and the poor.
Five years after the 2008 crash, 95 percent of gains made since the recovery have gone to the top 1 percent. Meanwhile for the bottom 60 percent wages have been stagnant or declining. And almost 25 percent of homeowners with mortgages are underwater.
So that wonderful recovery we’ve all heard about since the onset of the Great Recession? It’s been a recovery almost exclusively for the Wall Street tycoons who engineered the economic crisis. The rest of us are still paying for it.
According to the Guardian:
Five years after the financial crisis, America's super-rich have recovered all their losses to see their wealth reach an all-time high.
According to Forbes magazine the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a record $2.02 trillion, up from $1.7tn in 2012, a collective fortune slightly bigger than Russia's economy. In another sign of fizziness at the top of the economy, the cost to enter the billionaires' club has also gone up to levels not seen since the 2008 crash. In 2013, an aspiring plutocrat needs at least $1.3bn to make the Forbes list
In the same five years that the rich have been getting richer and workers’ wages remain stagnant, we’ve seen an all-out war on American workers in the form of “right to work” for less laws and other anti-worker attacks by right-wing groups like ALEC and the Koch Brothers.
Five years is long enough. It’s time to fight back for workers and demand a recovery for the middle class.
Five years is long enough. It’s time to fight back for workers and demand a recovery for the middle class.
Today's Teamster News 09.18.13
Teamsters VP Potter Calls Out NJ Gov. Christie for Misclassification Law Veto Leslie Marshall Show ...Teamsters International Vice President Fred Potter tells labor radio host Leslie Marshall that New Jersey Gov. Christie’s priority is not workers since port workers and others are being cheated by misclassification...
Teamsters Union Takes New Tack On Drayage Carriers Journal of Commerce ...When long-haul and local truck drivers at Toll Global Forwarding's Cartaret, N.J., location voted this summer in favor of representation by the Teamsters, it was the union's latest successful bid to organize workers on the waterfront...
Drive Up Standards Newsletter Now Available driveupstandards.org ...Read the latest issue of the Teamsters school bus campaign newsletter here...
U.S. to Include Home Care Workers in Wage and Overtime Law New York Times ...Advocates for low-wage workers have pushed for this change, asserting that home care workers, who care for elderly and disabled Americans, were wrongly classified into the same “companionship services” category as baby sitters — a group that is exempt from wage and overtime coverage...
Labor unions oppose privatizing TVA Times Free Press ...Organized labor may have backed President Obama, but America’s biggest unions don’t like the idea he floated in April to consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority...
Youth takes on Moral Monday movement Duke Chronicle ...Demonstrators carrying three empty coffins led a long, silent procession of more than 200 to Gov. Pat McCrory’s executive mansion Monday...
Google Knows The WiFi Passwords Of Every Android User: Report Huffington Post ...Google might have access to WiFi passwords...
U.S. must take tobacco out of global trade talks (opinion) San Francisco Chronicle ...Tobacco companies continue to aggressively market their deadly products across the country and around the world, through insidious ad campaigns. And they have found a new arena to exploit their deadly products: international trade agreements...
Hacker group in China linked to big cyber attacks Reuters ...Researchers have discovered a group of highly sophisticated hackers operating for hire out of China, a U.S. computer security company said on Tuesday, and it linked them to some of the best-known espionage attacks in recent years...
The typical American family makes less than it did in 1989 Washington Post ...The Census Bureau is out with the annual report on incomes and poverty. And while you might think that after years of stagnant incomes and elevated poverty rates, we would be inured to the depressing facts contained therein, it still somehow has the power to shock...
U.S. Banks Say They Are Now Safer (By Their Own Measure) Reuters ...The biggest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp, said that by their own reckoning they are better equipped to withstand global downturns now than they were in March...
Greek Doctors Join Civil Service Strike As Workers Protest Austerity Cuts To Hospitals, Schools Huffington Post ...Greek hospital doctors have embarked on a three-day strike, joining high school teachers who walked off the job a day earlier in a week of public sector strikes protesting planned job cuts...
California Legislature votes to end retroactive tax on investors Los Angeles Times ...California lawmakers have sent the governor a bill that would end state efforts to collect a retroactive tax increase from investors. A signature by Gov. Jerry Brown would relieve about 2,000 taxpayers from having to pay $120 million in back taxes...
Americans Are 110 Times More Likely to Die from Contaminated Food Than Terrorism Alternet ...In 2011, the year of Osama bin Laden's death, the State Department reported that 17 Americans were killed in all terrorist incidents worldwide. The same year, a single outbreak of listeriosis from tainted cantaloupe killed 33 people in the United States. Foodborne pathogens also sickened 48.7 million, hospitalized 127,839 and caused a total of 3,037 deaths. This is a typical year, not an aberration...
Teamsters Union Takes New Tack On Drayage Carriers Journal of Commerce ...When long-haul and local truck drivers at Toll Global Forwarding's Cartaret, N.J., location voted this summer in favor of representation by the Teamsters, it was the union's latest successful bid to organize workers on the waterfront...
Drive Up Standards Newsletter Now Available driveupstandards.org ...Read the latest issue of the Teamsters school bus campaign newsletter here...
U.S. to Include Home Care Workers in Wage and Overtime Law New York Times ...Advocates for low-wage workers have pushed for this change, asserting that home care workers, who care for elderly and disabled Americans, were wrongly classified into the same “companionship services” category as baby sitters — a group that is exempt from wage and overtime coverage...
Labor unions oppose privatizing TVA Times Free Press ...Organized labor may have backed President Obama, but America’s biggest unions don’t like the idea he floated in April to consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority...
Youth takes on Moral Monday movement Duke Chronicle ...Demonstrators carrying three empty coffins led a long, silent procession of more than 200 to Gov. Pat McCrory’s executive mansion Monday...
Google Knows The WiFi Passwords Of Every Android User: Report Huffington Post ...Google might have access to WiFi passwords...
U.S. must take tobacco out of global trade talks (opinion) San Francisco Chronicle ...Tobacco companies continue to aggressively market their deadly products across the country and around the world, through insidious ad campaigns. And they have found a new arena to exploit their deadly products: international trade agreements...
Hacker group in China linked to big cyber attacks Reuters ...Researchers have discovered a group of highly sophisticated hackers operating for hire out of China, a U.S. computer security company said on Tuesday, and it linked them to some of the best-known espionage attacks in recent years...
The typical American family makes less than it did in 1989 Washington Post ...The Census Bureau is out with the annual report on incomes and poverty. And while you might think that after years of stagnant incomes and elevated poverty rates, we would be inured to the depressing facts contained therein, it still somehow has the power to shock...
U.S. Banks Say They Are Now Safer (By Their Own Measure) Reuters ...The biggest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp, said that by their own reckoning they are better equipped to withstand global downturns now than they were in March...
Greek Doctors Join Civil Service Strike As Workers Protest Austerity Cuts To Hospitals, Schools Huffington Post ...Greek hospital doctors have embarked on a three-day strike, joining high school teachers who walked off the job a day earlier in a week of public sector strikes protesting planned job cuts...
California Legislature votes to end retroactive tax on investors Los Angeles Times ...California lawmakers have sent the governor a bill that would end state efforts to collect a retroactive tax increase from investors. A signature by Gov. Jerry Brown would relieve about 2,000 taxpayers from having to pay $120 million in back taxes...
Americans Are 110 Times More Likely to Die from Contaminated Food Than Terrorism Alternet ...In 2011, the year of Osama bin Laden's death, the State Department reported that 17 Americans were killed in all terrorist incidents worldwide. The same year, a single outbreak of listeriosis from tainted cantaloupe killed 33 people in the United States. Foodborne pathogens also sickened 48.7 million, hospitalized 127,839 and caused a total of 3,037 deaths. This is a typical year, not an aberration...
Meet Three Billionaires Asking Taxpayers To Buy Them New Stadiums Think Progress ...The NFL has 14 owners on the list, more than any other league. And three of the names should be notable, because they are asking taxpayers in their city to help foot the bill for new stadiums or massive renovation projects...
US super-rich hit new wealth record five years after financial crisis The Guardian ...the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a record $2.02tn, up from $1.7tn in 2012...
Progress on Predatory Lending New York Times ...Payday loans have long been huge financial traps for cash-strapped, low-income borrowers. Several states have clamped down on these “quick fix” loans, which sometimes carry annual interest rates of 400 percent or more. But a lot more needs to be done...
U.S. Judge: CCA Violated Idaho Contract When It Understaffed Private Prison Boise Weekly ...Following years of controversy, private prison Operator Corrections Corporation of America, which operates Idaho's private prison, was told by a federal judge that it was in contempt of court for understaffing the Idaho Correctional Center...
Kansas won't require citizenship proof for driver's license renewals Associated Press ...Kansas no longer plans to require people renewing driver’s licenses to produce proof that they are living in the U.S. legally, Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said Monday, confirming a policy shift with implications for the state’s administration of a separate proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters...
US super-rich hit new wealth record five years after financial crisis The Guardian ...the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a record $2.02tn, up from $1.7tn in 2012...
Progress on Predatory Lending New York Times ...Payday loans have long been huge financial traps for cash-strapped, low-income borrowers. Several states have clamped down on these “quick fix” loans, which sometimes carry annual interest rates of 400 percent or more. But a lot more needs to be done...
U.S. Judge: CCA Violated Idaho Contract When It Understaffed Private Prison Boise Weekly ...Following years of controversy, private prison Operator Corrections Corporation of America, which operates Idaho's private prison, was told by a federal judge that it was in contempt of court for understaffing the Idaho Correctional Center...
Kansas won't require citizenship proof for driver's license renewals Associated Press ...Kansas no longer plans to require people renewing driver’s licenses to produce proof that they are living in the U.S. legally, Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said Monday, confirming a policy shift with implications for the state’s administration of a separate proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters...
Friday, July 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.12.13
Consumer groups fret as first round of European trade talks nears end McClatchy ...as negotiators prepare to end the first round of talks in Washington on Friday, many consumer groups in the United States and Europe fear their governments will be a little too flexible, rushing to help corporations cash in on billions of dollars in new business...
George Steinmetz, National Geographic Photographer, Arrested Taking Photos Of Kansas Feedlot Huffington Post ...Kansas' ag gag law, the Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act ... bars individuals from entering and photographing an animal facility not open to the public...
The Rise Of Food Stamp Use In America Business Insider ...Earlier today, the House passed the Farm Bill without any funding provision for food stamps...
Low-wage workers strike at Smithsonian museums Washington Post ...Low-wage workers connected with the nation’s marquee museum network held a strike on Thursday, continuing a string of recent demonstrations to promote better pay for employees at federal buildings...
Walmart Living Wage Dispute In D.C. Undermines Company's Murky Pay Claims Huffington Post ...the company's balk at a $12.50 starting wage in D.C. suggests that the typical store worker actually earns a good deal less than $12.78...
Warren presses Wall Street regulators to take more bad actors to trial The Hill ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) scolded financial regulators on Thursday, questioning why they had sought settlements with many of Wall Street's bad actors instead of taking those firms to trial...
Warren Joins McCain to Push New Glass-Steagall Law for Banks Bloomberg ...U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said she and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are introducing a bill aimed at re-creating the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era measure that separated commercial and investment banking...
NTSB investigates whether Asiana pilot was blinded before crash Los Angeles Times ..."We really don't know what it could have been," Hersman said. "We need to look into it. We need to understand what he's talking about."...
Teamsters: Time for a raise for Hernando government workers Tampa Bay Times ...The union representing about 400 Hernando County government workers brought a message to the bargaining table this week: The time has come to make up for lost wages, and an across-the-board 6 percent increase should do it...
Teamsters pension plan returns 13.56% in 2012, topping benchmark Pensions & Investments ...Teamsters Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan returned 13.56% in 2012, outpacing its Wilshire's Trust Universe Comparison Service benchmark return of 13.25%...
Chicago Undertakers In Teamsters Union Go On Strike aol ...The funeral workers are right, in a sense, to fight against SCI's proposal: For them, the new deal is a much, much worse deal...
George Steinmetz, National Geographic Photographer, Arrested Taking Photos Of Kansas Feedlot Huffington Post ...Kansas' ag gag law, the Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act ... bars individuals from entering and photographing an animal facility not open to the public...
The Rise Of Food Stamp Use In America Business Insider ...Earlier today, the House passed the Farm Bill without any funding provision for food stamps...
Low-wage workers strike at Smithsonian museums Washington Post ...Low-wage workers connected with the nation’s marquee museum network held a strike on Thursday, continuing a string of recent demonstrations to promote better pay for employees at federal buildings...
Walmart Living Wage Dispute In D.C. Undermines Company's Murky Pay Claims Huffington Post ...the company's balk at a $12.50 starting wage in D.C. suggests that the typical store worker actually earns a good deal less than $12.78...
Warren presses Wall Street regulators to take more bad actors to trial The Hill ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) scolded financial regulators on Thursday, questioning why they had sought settlements with many of Wall Street's bad actors instead of taking those firms to trial...
Warren Joins McCain to Push New Glass-Steagall Law for Banks Bloomberg ...U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said she and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are introducing a bill aimed at re-creating the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era measure that separated commercial and investment banking...
NTSB investigates whether Asiana pilot was blinded before crash Los Angeles Times ..."We really don't know what it could have been," Hersman said. "We need to look into it. We need to understand what he's talking about."...
Teamsters: Time for a raise for Hernando government workers Tampa Bay Times ...The union representing about 400 Hernando County government workers brought a message to the bargaining table this week: The time has come to make up for lost wages, and an across-the-board 6 percent increase should do it...
Teamsters pension plan returns 13.56% in 2012, topping benchmark Pensions & Investments ...Teamsters Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan returned 13.56% in 2012, outpacing its Wilshire's Trust Universe Comparison Service benchmark return of 13.25%...
Chicago Undertakers In Teamsters Union Go On Strike aol ...The funeral workers are right, in a sense, to fight against SCI's proposal: For them, the new deal is a much, much worse deal...
Monday, February 25, 2013
Today's Teamsters News 02.25.13
Gas prices jump, but not as high, survey finds CNN ...Over the past two weeks, prices at the pump have jumped 20 cents, adding to a total rise of nearly 54 cents over the past nine weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey. A gallon of self-serve regular costs $3.80 on average nationwide, the survey found. But the speed of the spike has slowed substantially. And now, prices may even start to drop...
Trade protectionism looms next as central banks exhaust QE The Telegraph ...The four years of QE have given us a contained depression and prevented the global strategic order from unravelling. That is not a bad outcome, but the time gained has largely been wasted because few wish to face the awful truth that globalisation itself -- in its current deformed structure -- is the root cause of the whole disaster...
Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States New York Times ...With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders have set up online operations in more hospitable states or far-flung locales like Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade statewide caps on interest rates...
Kasich cribbed his tax hike from an unpopular ALEC-endorsed initiative Plunderbund ...Kasich’s tax hike–in coordination with similar schemes in Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and basically every GOP-controlled state–is clearly part of a national plug-and-play strategy led by ALEC, based on a failed Missouri idea...
Bloomberg's ban prohibits 2-liter soda with your pizza and some nightclub mixers New York Post ...Nanny Bloomberg unleashes his ban on large sodas on March 12 — and there are some nasty surprises lurking for hardworking families. Say goodbye to that 2-liter bottle of Coke with your pizza delivery, pitchers of soft drinks at your kid’s birthday party and some bottle-service mixers at your favorite nightclub...
Ken Hall: Where are 'Friends of Coal Miners'? Charleston Gazette ...Where are these so-called friends when it comes to the 22,500 active miners, retirees and their families who depend on Patriot Coal for their health care and pension benefits?...
Trade protectionism looms next as central banks exhaust QE The Telegraph ...The four years of QE have given us a contained depression and prevented the global strategic order from unravelling. That is not a bad outcome, but the time gained has largely been wasted because few wish to face the awful truth that globalisation itself -- in its current deformed structure -- is the root cause of the whole disaster...
Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States New York Times ...With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders have set up online operations in more hospitable states or far-flung locales like Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade statewide caps on interest rates...
Kasich cribbed his tax hike from an unpopular ALEC-endorsed initiative Plunderbund ...Kasich’s tax hike–in coordination with similar schemes in Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and basically every GOP-controlled state–is clearly part of a national plug-and-play strategy led by ALEC, based on a failed Missouri idea...
Bloomberg's ban prohibits 2-liter soda with your pizza and some nightclub mixers New York Post ...Nanny Bloomberg unleashes his ban on large sodas on March 12 — and there are some nasty surprises lurking for hardworking families. Say goodbye to that 2-liter bottle of Coke with your pizza delivery, pitchers of soft drinks at your kid’s birthday party and some bottle-service mixers at your favorite nightclub...
Ken Hall: Where are 'Friends of Coal Miners'? Charleston Gazette ...Where are these so-called friends when it comes to the 22,500 active miners, retirees and their families who depend on Patriot Coal for their health care and pension benefits?...
Monday, February 18, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.18.13
Congressional staffers often travel on tabs of foreign governments Washington Post ...Hill staffers had reported taking 803 such trips in the six years ending in 2011. Lawmakers themselves are increasingly participating, disclosing 21 trips in 2011, more than double the figure in prior years...
Green groups rally on climate, urge Obama to reject Keystone project The Hill ...Organizers said 35,000 activists attended the rally, where speakers portrayed the battle over the pipeline as a struggle between grassroots green groups and deep-pocketed special interests...
Federal Reserve: Weak demand -- not taxes -- preventing job growth Bold Progressive ...Using survey data from the National Federation of Independent Business, the two researchers found that when businesses complained most of lack of sales and demand, unemployment was highest...
How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it Rolling Stone ...For at least half a decade, the storied British colonial banking power helped to wash hundreds of millions of dollars for drug mobs, including Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, suspected in tens of thousands of murders just in the past 10 years... The bank also moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash...
Senator Orrin Hatch Drops a Bombshell at Jack Lew’s Confirmation Hearing Wall Street On Parade ... One only gets a $940,000 bonus from Wall Street’s Citigroup if you can land a “full time high level position with the United States Government or a regulatory body.”...
Thousands rally against Portugal austerity AFP ...Under the weight of cutbacks in public spending, the unemployment rate rose sharply in the fourth quarter of last year to 16.9 percent while the economy contracted by 3.2 percent in 2012...
Thousands protest to end evictions in Spain AFP ...protests were called in Barcelona and 50 other Spanish cities, the latest of months of demonstrations driven by anger at Spain's recession and the conservative government, which is imposing austere economic reforms...
SC Gov. Nikki Haley Named As Other Woman In Divorce Case Crooks and Liars ...According to court documents obtained exclusively by FITS, Jennifer Marchant – wife of prominent S.C. State House lobbyist Larry Marchant – is suing her husband for divorce on the grounds of infidelity. One of the three women Marchant accuses her husband of cheating on her with? You guessed it … Haley...
Bill would make it illegal to videotape farm or industry conditions Indianapolis Star ...“We don’t need vigilantes out entering people’s private property, industrial operation, factory or farm, doing things surreptitiously... for no other reason than to annoy and harass,” said Sen. Travis Holdman...
New state law conceals records of abuse, neglect in nursing homes The Cap Times ...It also makes such records inadmissible in criminal cases against health care providers accused of neglecting or abusing patients. The changes were included in a tort reform measure, the first bill Gov. Scott Walker proposed...
Green groups rally on climate, urge Obama to reject Keystone project The Hill ...Organizers said 35,000 activists attended the rally, where speakers portrayed the battle over the pipeline as a struggle between grassroots green groups and deep-pocketed special interests...
Federal Reserve: Weak demand -- not taxes -- preventing job growth Bold Progressive ...Using survey data from the National Federation of Independent Business, the two researchers found that when businesses complained most of lack of sales and demand, unemployment was highest...
How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it Rolling Stone ...For at least half a decade, the storied British colonial banking power helped to wash hundreds of millions of dollars for drug mobs, including Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, suspected in tens of thousands of murders just in the past 10 years... The bank also moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash...
Senator Orrin Hatch Drops a Bombshell at Jack Lew’s Confirmation Hearing Wall Street On Parade ... One only gets a $940,000 bonus from Wall Street’s Citigroup if you can land a “full time high level position with the United States Government or a regulatory body.”...
Thousands rally against Portugal austerity AFP ...Under the weight of cutbacks in public spending, the unemployment rate rose sharply in the fourth quarter of last year to 16.9 percent while the economy contracted by 3.2 percent in 2012...
Thousands protest to end evictions in Spain AFP ...protests were called in Barcelona and 50 other Spanish cities, the latest of months of demonstrations driven by anger at Spain's recession and the conservative government, which is imposing austere economic reforms...
SC Gov. Nikki Haley Named As Other Woman In Divorce Case Crooks and Liars ...According to court documents obtained exclusively by FITS, Jennifer Marchant – wife of prominent S.C. State House lobbyist Larry Marchant – is suing her husband for divorce on the grounds of infidelity. One of the three women Marchant accuses her husband of cheating on her with? You guessed it … Haley...
Bill would make it illegal to videotape farm or industry conditions Indianapolis Star ...“We don’t need vigilantes out entering people’s private property, industrial operation, factory or farm, doing things surreptitiously... for no other reason than to annoy and harass,” said Sen. Travis Holdman...
New state law conceals records of abuse, neglect in nursing homes The Cap Times ...It also makes such records inadmissible in criminal cases against health care providers accused of neglecting or abusing patients. The changes were included in a tort reform measure, the first bill Gov. Scott Walker proposed...
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.12.13
Corrupt Consumer Credit Scoring Exposed Economic Populist ...a new study ... shows 1 in 5 credit reports is chock full of errors. That's 20% of Americans with gross errors on their credit report with 10% of Americans having their credit score lowered as a result.
Home Prices Rise in 88% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Gains Bloomberg ...An improving job market and low interest rates are driving up prices by fueling demand for a tightening supply of listings. The national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same period last year...
China asks US to lift sanctions against defence firm The Economic Times ... The US today imposed sanctions on a Chinese defence firm, prompting a strong reaction from China which sought immediate lifting of the punitive action...
Bill to Limit Too-Big-to-Fail Risk Is Readied in U.S. House Bloomberg ...U.S. Representative John Campbell said he plans to offer legislation intended to shrink too-big- to-fail banks by requiring them to hold more capital including long-term debt...
Firefighters, teachers face smaller retirement safety net CNN Money ...While some of the changes and cutbacks impact current state workers and retirees, the most significant ones affect new hires....
Study Confirms Tea Party Created by Big Tobacco and Koch Brothers Huffington Post ...The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health, traces the roots of the Tea Party's anti-tax movement back to the early 1980s when tobacco companies began to invest in third party groups to fight excise taxes on cigarettes...
Seniors and Vets to Crash ‘Fix the Debt’ Party Hosted by Honeywell CEO The Nation ...They will demand that Cote, a spokesperson for Fix the Debt, answer the question: Why are you demanding that we reduce the deficit by cutting critical social programs, when your own company practices tax-dodging that has contributed millions to the national debt?...
Public money for private schools? ALEC strikes again Anchorage Daily News ...The notion of "school choice" isn't some brainstorm from Rep. Keller or his like-minded buddies in Juneau. This is another bit of robo-legislating brought to us by the Koch-brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council...
Ex-Florida GOP leader Jim Greer pleads guilty to grand theft TampaBayOnline ...The plea deal avoids would could have been an embarrassing trial for the state GOP. Some of Florida's most powerful politicians were scheduled as witnesses, including former Gov. Charlie Crist...
Michigan AFL-CIO files federal lawsuit seeking to stop right-to-work law Michigan Live ...The 8-count complaint alleges that Michigan's right-to-work law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the state to levy civil and criminal penalties for behaviors regulated by the federal National Labor Relations Act and by purporting to apply to areas under federal jurisdiction, such as dock-yards and forts...
Right-to-work legislation offers freedom to freeload (opinion) St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...the freedom to freeload — that is, gain increased wages and other benefits negotiated by the union without paying for them...
Minimum wage inches closer to New Jersey 2013 ballot with Senate approval ballotnews.org ...On February 7, the New Jersey State Senate voted to approve a measure that would raise the minimum wage in the state by $1, sending it to the General Assembly. The General Assembly must approve the measure before it can be sent to the ballot. There, it will face the voters of the state...
Pension plan has Pa. state workers worried philly.com ...The pension reform package Gov. Corbett proposed last week to address the state's $41 billion pension debt leaves 386,000 state employees and teachers wondering how it would change their retirement income...
ACLU sues state over Capitol protest rules Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued Gov. Scott Walker's administration in federal court Monday to stop arrests of the daily protest singers in the state Capitol...
State lawmakers propose paid sick leave mandate SoMdNews.com ...Citing risks to public health and economic growth, Maryland lawmakers are proposing a mandatory standard by which workers can earn paid sick days...
Teamsters Alert Investors To TPG Capital's Risky Practices IBT ...Teamster members distributed educational materials to investors at the conference. Investors learned that since TPG took over NEXEO, several facilities – and the communities surrounding those facilities – have been endangered...
Home Prices Rise in 88% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Gains Bloomberg ...An improving job market and low interest rates are driving up prices by fueling demand for a tightening supply of listings. The national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same period last year...
China asks US to lift sanctions against defence firm The Economic Times ... The US today imposed sanctions on a Chinese defence firm, prompting a strong reaction from China which sought immediate lifting of the punitive action...
Bill to Limit Too-Big-to-Fail Risk Is Readied in U.S. House Bloomberg ...U.S. Representative John Campbell said he plans to offer legislation intended to shrink too-big- to-fail banks by requiring them to hold more capital including long-term debt...
Firefighters, teachers face smaller retirement safety net CNN Money ...While some of the changes and cutbacks impact current state workers and retirees, the most significant ones affect new hires....
Study Confirms Tea Party Created by Big Tobacco and Koch Brothers Huffington Post ...The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health, traces the roots of the Tea Party's anti-tax movement back to the early 1980s when tobacco companies began to invest in third party groups to fight excise taxes on cigarettes...
Seniors and Vets to Crash ‘Fix the Debt’ Party Hosted by Honeywell CEO The Nation ...They will demand that Cote, a spokesperson for Fix the Debt, answer the question: Why are you demanding that we reduce the deficit by cutting critical social programs, when your own company practices tax-dodging that has contributed millions to the national debt?...
Public money for private schools? ALEC strikes again Anchorage Daily News ...The notion of "school choice" isn't some brainstorm from Rep. Keller or his like-minded buddies in Juneau. This is another bit of robo-legislating brought to us by the Koch-brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council...
Ex-Florida GOP leader Jim Greer pleads guilty to grand theft TampaBayOnline ...The plea deal avoids would could have been an embarrassing trial for the state GOP. Some of Florida's most powerful politicians were scheduled as witnesses, including former Gov. Charlie Crist...
Michigan AFL-CIO files federal lawsuit seeking to stop right-to-work law Michigan Live ...The 8-count complaint alleges that Michigan's right-to-work law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the state to levy civil and criminal penalties for behaviors regulated by the federal National Labor Relations Act and by purporting to apply to areas under federal jurisdiction, such as dock-yards and forts...
Right-to-work legislation offers freedom to freeload (opinion) St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...the freedom to freeload — that is, gain increased wages and other benefits negotiated by the union without paying for them...
Minimum wage inches closer to New Jersey 2013 ballot with Senate approval ballotnews.org ...On February 7, the New Jersey State Senate voted to approve a measure that would raise the minimum wage in the state by $1, sending it to the General Assembly. The General Assembly must approve the measure before it can be sent to the ballot. There, it will face the voters of the state...
Pension plan has Pa. state workers worried philly.com ...The pension reform package Gov. Corbett proposed last week to address the state's $41 billion pension debt leaves 386,000 state employees and teachers wondering how it would change their retirement income...
ACLU sues state over Capitol protest rules Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued Gov. Scott Walker's administration in federal court Monday to stop arrests of the daily protest singers in the state Capitol...
State lawmakers propose paid sick leave mandate SoMdNews.com ...Citing risks to public health and economic growth, Maryland lawmakers are proposing a mandatory standard by which workers can earn paid sick days...
Teamsters Alert Investors To TPG Capital's Risky Practices IBT ...Teamster members distributed educational materials to investors at the conference. Investors learned that since TPG took over NEXEO, several facilities – and the communities surrounding those facilities – have been endangered...
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.05.13
U.S. Accuses S.&P. of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles New York Times ...The Justice Department filed civil fraud charges late on Monday against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck...
Land Battles Rise as U.S. Eyes 450,000 Miles of New Pipe Bloomberg ...With the natural gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles (724,000 kilometers) of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years, a distance to the moon and almost back to earth, conflicts will multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property...
30,000 Golden Dawn Supporters March in Athens Under Neo-Nazi Banners International Business Times ...The party has been able to capitalise on the harsh austerity that has been imposed as a condition of Greece maintaining its Eurozone membership. As Greece's economic fortunes have plummeted, so Golden Dawn's fortunes have soared...
UK Declares New Powers to Break Up Banks TIME ...Britain’s treasury chief warned the country’s banks on Monday that they face being broken up if they fail to protect their retail operations from their riskier investment arms...
Google CEO Warns about China's hacking manufacture this ...In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, the willingness of China’s government and state companies to use cyber crime gives the country an economic and political edge, they say...
Everybody’s working for the…health care benefits Washington Post ...Three-quarters of retirees said they worked longer than they would have otherwise to maintain access to their health plan...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National ‘Right To Work’ Bill To Senate Bold Progressives ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Beltway-aired Super Bowl ad goes after union card check MSNBC ...Football fans in the Washington, D.C. area were treated to an anti-card check ad from the conservative Center for Union Facts (CUF) right before kickoff...
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget would slash income taxes, lower and broaden the sales tax and revamp oil and gas tax The Plain Dealer ...Kasich's sweeping tax reform plan calls for a 50 percent income tax reduction for almost every small business over the next two years, and a 20 percent cut for individuals. The 5.5 percent sales tax rate would drop to 5 percent, but more services would be subjected to the tax, helping to make up for the lost revenue...
Wisconsin: State pension board rejects request for $200M for economic development initiatives Pioneer Press ...The board that oversees Wisconsin's pension program for public employees has rejected a request by the head of Gov. Scott Walker's semi-private economic development agency to tap $200 million from the fund to invest in risky startup businesses...
Voter Advocacy Groups Say Mo. ID Bills Unfair, Unconstitutional KBIA ...This week lawmakers in Jefferson City are taking another crack at requiring Missouri voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls...
Unions promise legal battle if pension benefits touched, leading lawmakers wary WITF ...The two largest public sector unions in Pennsylvania said Friday that they’ll sue the state if their members’ pension benefits are changed...
Fighting continues over anti-union bill Lawrence Journal World ...House Bill 2023 would prohibit the ability of teachers and public union members to have automatic payroll deduction that would go to a political action committee...
LePage again warns schoolchildren off newspapers Bangor Daily News ...“My greatest fear in the state of Maine: newspapers,” LePage told children at the St. John Catholic School...
Walmart Workers Get Organized—Just Don't Say the U-Word Mother Jones ... UFCW pledged to the NLRB that it would not try to unionize Walmart workers and would ease up on picketing for 60 days... OUR Walmart wants the same things a real union wants, but it is not a union. It can't bargain with management or bring grievances on behalf of workers. But it is a new toehold for the union...
Talks to resume between Durham, school bus drivers' union WCSC ...Negotiations between Durham School Services and the Teamsters Local 509 union representing many of the company's drivers were set to resume on Monday...
Land Battles Rise as U.S. Eyes 450,000 Miles of New Pipe Bloomberg ...With the natural gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles (724,000 kilometers) of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years, a distance to the moon and almost back to earth, conflicts will multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property...
30,000 Golden Dawn Supporters March in Athens Under Neo-Nazi Banners International Business Times ...The party has been able to capitalise on the harsh austerity that has been imposed as a condition of Greece maintaining its Eurozone membership. As Greece's economic fortunes have plummeted, so Golden Dawn's fortunes have soared...
UK Declares New Powers to Break Up Banks TIME ...Britain’s treasury chief warned the country’s banks on Monday that they face being broken up if they fail to protect their retail operations from their riskier investment arms...
Google CEO Warns about China's hacking manufacture this ...In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, the willingness of China’s government and state companies to use cyber crime gives the country an economic and political edge, they say...
Everybody’s working for the…health care benefits Washington Post ...Three-quarters of retirees said they worked longer than they would have otherwise to maintain access to their health plan...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National ‘Right To Work’ Bill To Senate Bold Progressives ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Beltway-aired Super Bowl ad goes after union card check MSNBC ...Football fans in the Washington, D.C. area were treated to an anti-card check ad from the conservative Center for Union Facts (CUF) right before kickoff...
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget would slash income taxes, lower and broaden the sales tax and revamp oil and gas tax The Plain Dealer ...Kasich's sweeping tax reform plan calls for a 50 percent income tax reduction for almost every small business over the next two years, and a 20 percent cut for individuals. The 5.5 percent sales tax rate would drop to 5 percent, but more services would be subjected to the tax, helping to make up for the lost revenue...
Wisconsin: State pension board rejects request for $200M for economic development initiatives Pioneer Press ...The board that oversees Wisconsin's pension program for public employees has rejected a request by the head of Gov. Scott Walker's semi-private economic development agency to tap $200 million from the fund to invest in risky startup businesses...
Voter Advocacy Groups Say Mo. ID Bills Unfair, Unconstitutional KBIA ...This week lawmakers in Jefferson City are taking another crack at requiring Missouri voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls...
Unions promise legal battle if pension benefits touched, leading lawmakers wary WITF ...The two largest public sector unions in Pennsylvania said Friday that they’ll sue the state if their members’ pension benefits are changed...
Fighting continues over anti-union bill Lawrence Journal World ...House Bill 2023 would prohibit the ability of teachers and public union members to have automatic payroll deduction that would go to a political action committee...
LePage again warns schoolchildren off newspapers Bangor Daily News ...“My greatest fear in the state of Maine: newspapers,” LePage told children at the St. John Catholic School...
Walmart Workers Get Organized—Just Don't Say the U-Word Mother Jones ... UFCW pledged to the NLRB that it would not try to unionize Walmart workers and would ease up on picketing for 60 days... OUR Walmart wants the same things a real union wants, but it is not a union. It can't bargain with management or bring grievances on behalf of workers. But it is a new toehold for the union...
Talks to resume between Durham, school bus drivers' union WCSC ...Negotiations between Durham School Services and the Teamsters Local 509 union representing many of the company's drivers were set to resume on Monday...
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Today's Teamster News 07.22.12
Jobless Recovery: 43 States Have Fewer Jobs Now Than They Did Before Recession Associated Press ...Overall, the U.S. economy has 3.5 percent fewer jobs than it did before the Great Recession, which began in December 2007...
Tax Justice Network: Wealth Held in Tax Havens Skyrockets Wall Street Journal ...The Tax Justice Network’s report estimates that unreported offshore wealth held in tax havens has reached at least $21 trillion, and possibly as much as $32 trillion. That wealth means that the problem of inequality in wealth and income is actually worse than suspected, the group says. It also means that many countries are losing out on tax revenue that could go a long way toward alleviating their national fiscal problems...
Failing to Break Up the Big Banks is Destroying America zero hedge ...Now that the economy has crashed, the big banks are making very few loans to consumers or small businesses because they still have trillions in bad derivatives gambling debts to pay off, and so they are only loaning to the biggest players and those who don’t really need credit in the first place...
Is a Great Grey Exodus from America Starting? naked capitalism ...I see more and more people of modest and better means planning on becoming expats to make their retirement incomes go further...
Plug-in hybrid sales soar; all-electric cars stay in low gear Los Angeles Times ...'Pure' electric cars post underwhelming sales. Their limited range and higher prices, plus the lack of a strong public infrastructure for recharging their batteries, hurt their appeal...
Viral Facebook post says Barack Obama has lowest spending record of any recent president Politifact ...The Truth-O-Meter Says Mitt Romney is wrong to claim that spending under Obama has "accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history," because it's actually risen "slower than at any time in nearly 60 years..."
Tax Justice Network: Wealth Held in Tax Havens Skyrockets Wall Street Journal ...The Tax Justice Network’s report estimates that unreported offshore wealth held in tax havens has reached at least $21 trillion, and possibly as much as $32 trillion. That wealth means that the problem of inequality in wealth and income is actually worse than suspected, the group says. It also means that many countries are losing out on tax revenue that could go a long way toward alleviating their national fiscal problems...
Failing to Break Up the Big Banks is Destroying America zero hedge ...Now that the economy has crashed, the big banks are making very few loans to consumers or small businesses because they still have trillions in bad derivatives gambling debts to pay off, and so they are only loaning to the biggest players and those who don’t really need credit in the first place...
Is a Great Grey Exodus from America Starting? naked capitalism ...I see more and more people of modest and better means planning on becoming expats to make their retirement incomes go further...
Plug-in hybrid sales soar; all-electric cars stay in low gear Los Angeles Times ...'Pure' electric cars post underwhelming sales. Their limited range and higher prices, plus the lack of a strong public infrastructure for recharging their batteries, hurt their appeal...
Viral Facebook post says Barack Obama has lowest spending record of any recent president Politifact ...The Truth-O-Meter Says Mitt Romney is wrong to claim that spending under Obama has "accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history," because it's actually risen "slower than at any time in nearly 60 years..."
Thursday, May 31, 2012
'Bust 'em up, who needs Wall Street giants?'
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Hightower writes in Common Dreams that the U.S. should decentralize its capital, reinvesting our public trust in community banks and credit unions that actually deserve it and serve it. (What a concept.)
Wall Street would prefer that middle-class taxpayers continue to protect its giant banks -- presumably so they can continue to exploit the middle class. Writes Hightower,
After enduring years of insatiable greed by the slick-fingered hucksters who run these gambling houses; after watching in dismay as their ineptness and avarice drained more than $19 trillion from America's household wealth since 2007 and plunged our real economy into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression; after witnessing their shameful demands for trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts to save their banks and their jobs; and now after seeing them return immediately to business as usual, including paying multimillion-dollar bonuses to themselves - we have to ask: Huh!?!Wall Street's giant banks are no longer central to our economy, he argues. Their complicated financial schemes,
...just move money around, spiraling real investment capital from the grassroots up to superrich global profiteers who create nothing but more wealth for themselves. Shell games at carnival sideshows are more honest than big-bank trading houses, for the hustles of such hucksters as JPMorgan, Goldman, B of A, etc. are based on financial illusions, off-the-books accounting, illegally leveraged borrowing, ridiculous tax subsidies and hide-the-pea secrecy.
The obvious truth is that these high-flying, high-tech, high-speed emporiums of high finance serve themselves, not us - so we have no obligation or need to keep serving them. Of course we need banks - to lend to us consumers and our productive businesses, to handle our commercial transactions, to manage our savings and provide financial advice, etc. But that's not what the leviathans of Wall Street do.Couldn't have said it better ourselves.
Today's Teamster News 05.31.12
Unpaid Overtime: Wage And Hour Lawsuits Have Skyrocketed In The Last Decade Huffington Post ...Collective action lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations have risen 400 percent in the last 11 years, according to a recent post at CNNMoney. In 2011, there were more than 7,000 such lawsuits filed in federal court -- a huge increase since the turn of the century...
SEC: Taking on Big Firms is 'Tempting,' But We Prefer Whaling on Little Guys Rolling Stone ...I’ve heard from several attorneys who represent smaller clients who tell me they’re flabbergasted, watching the S.E.C. give the Chases, Goldmans, and Citigroups free ride after free ride while their pockmarked little clients at fledgling public companies get served the whole regulatory meal for minor disclosure violations – even cases that simply involve bad paperwork, where money isn’t even stolen...
WOW: In No State Is a 40-Hour, Minimum Wage Work Week Enough to Afford a Two-Bedroom Apartment We Party Patriots ...The numbers don’t show any discernible trend aside from perhaps 1) states with high cost of living/rent such as NY, NJ, DC, MD require the most man hours and 2) the minimum wage is too low...
Beloit billionaire pays zero in 2010 state income tax bill Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Hendricks was thrust into the spotlight last month when a videotape showing her talking with Gov. Scott Walker about strategies to fight unions was released...
Is there a “smoking gun” email that implicates Scott Walker in bid-rigging? Blogging Blue ...Gov. Walker is no longer cooperating with investigators in the Milwaukee County John Doe investigation, which would certainly explain Walker’s decision to transfer $70,000 to his criminal defense fund on May 3 and $30,000 on May 17, according to campaign finance reports...
On eve of Senate appearance, Raitt calls on CP, Teamsters to voluntarily go back to work Canada.com ...Canada’s labour minister called on the two parties in the country’s railway dispute to voluntarily go back to work on Friday, a day after they and the minister are set to face questions from senators reviewing the Canadian Pacific back-to-work bill...
Teamsters, Coca-Cola Dispute Who's Paying For Health Insurance Hartford Courant ...No new negotiating sessions have been scheduled since the strike began. The next meeting is on June 12...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Today's Teamster News 05.24.12
Union funds flow into Quebec in support of student activists The Globe and Mail ...Trade unions based outside Quebec have already confirmed sending more than $36,000 into the bank accounts of the province’s largest student federations...
1,000 dogs sickened by jerky pet treats made in China Trade Reform ...The Food and Drug Administration has been warning owners about continued problems with the chicken jerky strips, treats and nuggets since November. Three of the top brands of treats cited in complaints of harm include Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brands produced byNestle Purina PetCare, andMilo’s Kitchen Home-style Dog Treats produced by Del Monte...
Over 99% of Federal Reserve Bank Enforcement Actions Are Resolved Without Admission of Guilt naked capitalism ...(Democrats) don’t want regulation, they want to be seen as wanting regulation. And the Republicans, while they want to be seen as the party against regulation, are actually quite happy having regulators they can work with, regulators who protect the banks from state or local level action...
Walker Lied to Congress, Created Act 10 Immediately After 2010 Election WTDY ...Dylan Brogan, has just reported that officials at the the Legislative Reference Bureau say they began work on Act 10, at the request of Walker, in November of 2010-- days after the election. This directly contradicts sworn testimony Walker gave to the U.S. House Oversight Committee...
Labour minister threatens back-to-work bill if CP strike drags on Financial Post ...In the wake of Wednesday’s strike by locomotive engineers and conductors at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, the country’s second-biggest railroad, the labour minister issued a warning: Any work stoppage that threatens to have a “grave” impact on the economy is fair game for government action...
Meeting Between Teamsters and Allied Waste Fails to Materialize TriState Homepage ...Sources told Eyewitness News that members of the Teamsters Local 215 would meet with Allied Waste this morning at the union headquarters, but no one showed up...
No contract yet for Nichols, union Quad City Business Journal ...After another round of contract talks, Nichols Aluminum and Teamsters Local 371 have yet to reach an agreement, the two sides said Wednesday...
St. Luke's Nurses Picket RecordOnline.com ...Nurses and pharmacists at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital have been without a contract for over a year. The administration is proposing radical contract changes including raising healthcare costs by more than 100% , job security issues and cutting their pay among other drastic proposals. Being members of 1199SEIU and Teamsters Local 445...
1,000 dogs sickened by jerky pet treats made in China Trade Reform ...The Food and Drug Administration has been warning owners about continued problems with the chicken jerky strips, treats and nuggets since November. Three of the top brands of treats cited in complaints of harm include Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brands produced byNestle Purina PetCare, andMilo’s Kitchen Home-style Dog Treats produced by Del Monte...
Over 99% of Federal Reserve Bank Enforcement Actions Are Resolved Without Admission of Guilt naked capitalism ...(Democrats) don’t want regulation, they want to be seen as wanting regulation. And the Republicans, while they want to be seen as the party against regulation, are actually quite happy having regulators they can work with, regulators who protect the banks from state or local level action...
Walker Lied to Congress, Created Act 10 Immediately After 2010 Election WTDY ...Dylan Brogan, has just reported that officials at the the Legislative Reference Bureau say they began work on Act 10, at the request of Walker, in November of 2010-- days after the election. This directly contradicts sworn testimony Walker gave to the U.S. House Oversight Committee...
Labour minister threatens back-to-work bill if CP strike drags on Financial Post ...In the wake of Wednesday’s strike by locomotive engineers and conductors at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, the country’s second-biggest railroad, the labour minister issued a warning: Any work stoppage that threatens to have a “grave” impact on the economy is fair game for government action...
Meeting Between Teamsters and Allied Waste Fails to Materialize TriState Homepage ...Sources told Eyewitness News that members of the Teamsters Local 215 would meet with Allied Waste this morning at the union headquarters, but no one showed up...
No contract yet for Nichols, union Quad City Business Journal ...After another round of contract talks, Nichols Aluminum and Teamsters Local 371 have yet to reach an agreement, the two sides said Wednesday...
St. Luke's Nurses Picket RecordOnline.com ...Nurses and pharmacists at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital have been without a contract for over a year. The administration is proposing radical contract changes including raising healthcare costs by more than 100% , job security issues and cutting their pay among other drastic proposals. Being members of 1199SEIU and Teamsters Local 445...
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