Unions speak the truth on Social Security

Social Security, the program that provides over half  of American seniors a majority of their income, is more important than ever. Across America, nearly 58 billion workers and their families rely on Social Security every month to pay the bills.

But once again, the greedy billionaires behind Fix the Debt are trying to cut Social Security benefits so they don't have to pay their fair share of taxes. They don't care that Social Security keeps millions out of poverty. They don't care that it's essential to sustaining what's left of the middle class.

The greedy billionaires are now trying to persuade Congress to cut Social Security (and probably Medicare) when they meet in three months to discuss budget cuts. They're trying to disguise it by calling it "chained CPI," which is nothing but jargon for "cuts."

Unions are out front warning Americans of the looming threat -- just like the last time the billionaires tried to push the cuts through Congress. Teamster General President Jim Hoffa staunchly opposes the cuts, which hurt the oldest and poorest retirees the most:

Social Security does not contribute to the budget deficit and should remain off the table in these year-end budget negotiations.  Americans work all their lives to earn the Social Security benefits they were promised. It would be a terrible mistake to go back on that promise.

Even though less than three-quarters of the fund comes from payroll deductions, Fix the Debt minions have been spreading misinformation, saying that Social Security will cause the US to go bankrupt.  When an anchor from CNBC claimed that the US may well go bankrupt from Social Security, Damon Silver, the AFL-CIO's policy director, set the record straight:

That’s frankly not true. That is a lie put forward by billionaires who don’t want to pay higher taxes....The people who believe what you said are people not counting on those programs and who are worried their very large incomes will be taxed.

Chained CPI is like the vampire of American politics. It keeps being shot through the heart and it keeps reviving. The reason it keeps coming back is because it has billionaires behind it.

Our nation needs to keep the decades-old promise to workers.  There is no such thing as an acceptable cut -- especially when the country has more than enough resources to fund the program that keeps millions of seniors out of poverty.

Today's Teamster News 10.07.13

US shutdown is starting to hit business, says Commerce Secretary  BBC News   ...On Friday, the US defence contractor Lockheed Martin said it would put 3,000 workers on unpaid leave...
Progressives and Working Families Rally Against 'Chained' CPI and Other Safety Net Cuts  AFL-CIO Now   ...progressive members of Congress and working families are looking ahead to fight against any proposed grand "bargain" that would include benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare...
Mount Rushmore blockage stirs anger in South Dakota  Argus Leader   ...The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument...
Truthdigger of the Week: Lori Wallach  Truthdig   ...The extreme want of coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in even the independent, alternative press is a testament to the near-complete domination of politics and the news media by transnational corporate interests...
Man sets self on fire on National Mall  Associated Press   ..."I heard from people around me that he was yelling something about voting rights...[He] poured the gas can on his head and lit himself on fire.," describes witness...
Mugged by a Mug Shot Online  New York Times   ...for-profit Web sites, with names like Mugshots, BustedMugshots and JustMugshots ... routinely show up high in Google searches ... The ostensible point of these sites is to give the public a quick way to glean the unsavory history of a neighbor, a potential date or anyone else. That sounds civic-minded, until you consider one way most of these sites make money: by charging a fee to remove the image. That fee can be anywhere from $30 to $400, or even higher...
Now Mastercard Wants Your Fingerprints  zero hedge   ...MasterCard is joining the FIDO Alliance, signaling that the payment network is getting interested in using fingerprints and other biometric data to identify people for online payments...
Home Care Workers Vote To Unionize  Vermont Public Radio   ...Organizers say a vote to unionize by home care workers marks the largest unionizing effort in Vermont. It’s estimated there are 7,000 home care workers in the state. Now, as part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, they will negotiate with the state over issues like pay, hours and benefits...
Bloomington GE workers protest job cuts  ABC News Channel 6   ...By the end of October, 160 workers at Bloomington's General Electric refrigerator plant will be out of jobs, and dozens of workers were outside the plant Saturday protesting the company's decision...

Today's Teamster News 07.03.13

Unemployment Rate Still Above 10% in 27 US Metro Areas  Wall Street Journal   ...Eleven of these areas were in California, the country’s most-populous state, which continues to grapple with fallout from the housing-market downturn...
Don't Blame Unemployment Insurance for Our Jobs Crisis  The Atlantic   ...there's no evidence that long-term unemployment benefits have discouraged the long-term unemployed from taking jobs -- because they can't get jobs to begin with...
Dutch pension group halts Wal-Mart investments over low wages and working conditions  Reuters   ...Wal-Mart “was not prepared” to take concerns about what PGGM called “tense” U.S. labor relations into consideration and its board was not willing to participate in “fruitful dialogues” with shareholders, PGGM said in a statement...
Elderly man who picked dandelions for food gets $75 ticket  ABA Journal   ... John Taris, a 75-year-old retiree ... lives in the Chicago area with his wife on a $1,500-a-month social security payment. When the couple's food supply was a bit low recently, he volunteered to go pick some to provide a vegetable ...But, caught in the act of picking the weeds by a Cook County Forest Preserve cop, he was issued a $75 ticket...
Big U.S. Companies Pay 12.6 Percent Average Tax Rate  Reuters   ...As corporate lobbyists seek to preserve business tax breaks and cut the corporate tax rate, the Government Accountability Office said big companies with earnings paid just 12.6 percent of their worldwide income in taxes in 2010...
To Restore the American Dream, Restore the Promise of American Labor Law (opinion)  Roll Call   ...Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon recognized the important work of the NLRB and worked with union leaders and other representatives of organized labor as did Democratic Presidents Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy...
Banks Are Finding New Ways To Saddle Low-Wage Workers With Fees  Think Progress   ...Low-wage workers are increasingly getting their wages in prepaid cards that hit them with fees. According to the Times, the largest American companies have done away with direct deposit and paper paychecks in favor of prepaid cards that require employees to withdraw cash from ATM machines...
Playing politics with prison  Oklahoma Gazette   ...Private prison corporations have deep pockets, and Oklahoma’s governor and Republican leadership are only so willing to take their money...
Missouri governor veto of farmland bills could hamper Smithfield sale to China  Reuters   ...Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed two bills on Tuesday that would have would have cleared the way for foreign ownership of farmland and potentially eliminated obstacles to Smithfield Foods Inc.'s planned $4.7 billion purchase by a Chinese company...
Christie conditionally vetoes bill to create state program to buy foreclosed properties  Burlington County Times   ...A controversial housing bill intended to help reduce New Jersey’s glut of foreclosed homes was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie for a third time...
Protesters: Keep Social Security Unchained  New Haven Independent ...Manny Gomez worked for Winchester Repeating Arms for 44 years, paying into social security with each paycheck. Now at 84 he can’t afford to live off his social security check, he said. And he can’t afford a proposed change to calculating the federal retirement benefit...
Ontario workers exposed to Agent Orange  OHS Canada   ...Ontario workers might have been exposed to Agent Orange, a recent report from an independent fact-finding panel has revealed...
Rhode Island Senate passes minimum-wage increase  Providence Journal   ...A bill that raises Rhode Island's minimum wage by 25 cents, to $8 an hour, cleared the state Senate on Monday night and is headed for the governor's signature...
Hawaii gov signs domestic workers bill   Associated Press   ...Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a domestic workers bill of rights Monday, making Hawaii the second U.S. state to give nannies, housekeepers and others protections on wages and other labor issues...
North Carolina’s Deep Cut to Jobless Benefits Takes Effect Amid Protests  New York Times   ...North Carolina’s sharp cuts in benefits to the unemployed went into effect this week, amid a swelling public outcry...
Report: Property values dropped, taxes didn't  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Total property values in southeastern Wisconsin dropped 5% in 2012, but municipal and school district property tax levies did not follow suit...
Protesters want to strike a deal  Lake County Record-Bee   ...About 30 people were on strike and will continue in Lower Lake, Lakeport and Clearlake protesting lack of raises for Paratransit employees, said Mike Yates, Business Representative of Teamsters Local 665. The Teamsters are currently in negotiations … in hopes of signing a contract and preventing further strikes...
Upper Merion School Board extends services from Teamster maintenance workers  Mainline Media News   ...The Upper Merion Area School Board in Pennsylvania adopted a “status quo” resolution between the district and Teamsters Local 384, which represents the custodial, building, and turf maintenance employees. The contract expired on June 30, and because no new agreement has been reached, the resolution stated that services provided by the employees would continue...
ABF Vote Results By Local Union  IBT   ...View the ABF vote results by local union here...
Teamster funeral directors strike in Chicago  TeamsterNation   ...The relentless greed of Houston-based funeral giant SCI has forced Teamster funeral directors and drivers to strike today. The funeral directors, members of Local 727, set up strike lines this morning outside of area funeral homes...

Today's Teamster News 05.20.13

Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord: At Least 14 Major North American Retailers Decline To Sign Huffington Post   ...The deadline to sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh passed on Tuesday, and at least 14 major North American retailers declined to participate...
The great tax charade: Amazon plays the system while businesses like ours suffer  The Independent   ...We own a pair of independent book shops in Warwickshire. All around us the high street is, essentially, collapsing.... It’s simply not fair that Amazon starts at a an advantage on every sale because it’s not paying its fair share of tax...
Robert Reich: The Hollowing-Out of Government  Moyers & Company   ...The deadly explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant was absolutely preventable. The plant was had not been inspected since 1985, and heavily violated safety standards. Why did this happen? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the government agency set to ensure workplace safety, but it’s been steadily hollowed out by Republicans…
Koch Brothers Dump Three-Story Pile of Toxic Byproduct on Detroit  The Gawker   ...There's a new addition to the scenic view along the Detroit River: a three-story pile of petroleum coke, a byproduct of the tar sands drilling in northern Canada over 2,000 miles away...
Class-Action Lawsuit Aimed at Walmart  Hispanic Business   ...Walmart can be sued for being negligent in hiring contractors that employ workers at their distribution centers, according to a federal ruling this week...
Michael Kinsley Feels Your Austerity Pain, Middle Class, But Pain Makes You Beautiful  Huffington Post   ...The austerity policies that gripped the world in the face of the global economic downturn have not worked. Unless the intent was to make a bad situation almost intractably worse...
Say no to Chained CPI scheme (opinion)  Times-Standard   ...Recipients of Social Security benefits and those about to retire should be aware that President Obama's proposed switch to the so-called Chained Consumer Price Index is, if adopted, will result in reduced benefits to all recipients...
Corporations Are Stealing From Hard Working Americans  New Hampshire Labor News   ...If you do not agree that corporations are stealing from Americans then you do not understand our current tax structure...
How Trade Pacts Threaten Public Health and Freedom  U.S. News & World Report   ...Let's face it: trade agreements bore most people. But modern trade pacts reach deep into our lives in ways that have nothing to do with trade. Deals now under discussion undermine the freedom of people everywhere to decide how to live, and they restrict the ability of democratically-elected governments to promote public health. It's time for the rest of us to pay attention…
Winners and losers from the 2013 session of the Missouri General Assembly  Kansas City Star   ...More importantly for the labor movement, the GOP largely abandoned the bill that unions most despised — a ban on unions requiring workers to pay dues, better known as “right to work.”...
Wisconsin Gov. Walker signs work-share bill  Green Bay Press Gazette   ...Gov. Scott Walker has signed into law a bill creating a program that gives employers an alternative to laying off employees when work slows...
Minimum Wage Hike Would Give Women A Needed Boost  Hartford Courant   ...Recently, the Appropriations Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly took a strong step toward growing and strengthening the wages of Connecticut's lowest-wage earners by voting to increase the state's minimum wage. In doing so, the committee also took a stand for women, as women are disproportionately impacted by a low minimum wage...
Texas sues BP, Halliburton, others over oil spill  CNN News   ...Texas on Friday became the latest state to sue BP, Halliburton and others tied to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, alleging the parties "engaged in willful and wanton misconduct" and seeking penalties and damages "to the fullest extent allowed by law."...
Indiana Halts Support of Fertilizer Plant on U.S. Bomb Concerns  Bloomberg News   ...Indiana Governor Mike Pence pulled his support of a plan by a Pakistani company to build a fertilizer plant after the Pentagon raised concerns that its products were being used to make bombs...
Georgia depends heavily on federal money  Atlanta Journal-Constitution   ...With Congress promising more federal spending cuts, some Georgia officials are facing up to a politically unpopular fact: the state has become more reliant on billions of dollars from Washington since the start of the Great Recession...