Teamsters
Gregory Floyd Named Teamsters International Trustee Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced today that Gregory Floyd was appointed to serve as an International Trustee on the General Executive Board. Floyd is the President of Teamsters Local 237 in New York City, the union’s largest local chapter with more than 24,000 members that work in the public sector...
Ron Herrera Appointed Teamsters Western Region International Vice President Teamster.org ...Herrera has served on the General Executive Board as an International Trustee since 2012. Herrera, who was also recently appointed director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division, has spent his entire career as a vocal advocate for workers in Southern California. He is also Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396 in Covina, Calif., Executive Director of the National Hispanic Caucus and Recording Secretary of Joint Council 42...
Willbros' Investors Call for Sale of Oil & Gas Business; Launch Watchdog Website Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters have joined with other investors of Willbros Group [NYSE: WG] to demand swift and drastic actions by Willbros’ board of directors including the sale of its Oil and Gas segment. Willbros stock price has dropped 73 percent over the past year, hitting a record low of $1.50 in recent weeks...
Teamsters Gain Ally In Mexican Trucking Challenge Law360 ...A truck drivers' lobbying group has launched a bid to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Ninth Circuit challenge of an Obama administration move to open the U.S. border to Mexican trucking services...
Failed fast track is nearly upon us -- again TeamsterNation ...Despite the Teamsters and our allies making clear that U.S. residents will be hurt if fast track can be used to quickly push secret trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress, some lawmakers had decided to side with big business instead...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece defends bailout tactics as latest deadline looms The Guardian ...Eurozone officials disagreed with this assessment, saying Athens was still able to meet its international obligations, and regarded its ability to pay public sector wages and pensions as a domestic problem, according to the report. They deplored Greece’s unwillingness to discuss cuts to public sector pensions...
50 Reasons We Cannot Afford the TPP Public Citizen ...The TPP would extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model that has contributed to massive U.S. trade deficits and job loss, downward pressure on middle class wages, unprecedented levels of inequality, lagging exports, new floods of agricultural imports, and the loss of family farms...
When corporate profit trumps human rights, we all lose (opinion) The Hill ...The United States is the largest economy in the world and a global leader in the advancement of human rights. We should not reward countries that abuse the human rights of LGBT people and women with a trade agreement that would establish those countries as privileged trading partners...
What Is a 'Corporatist Agenda,' and Where Can We Find One? (opinion) Huffington Post ...The White House has several serious challenges with this narrative. First, TPP looks like a corporatist agenda, walks like one, quacks like one, and has the same effect on my daily life as a corporatist agenda. When you say, "It's not a corporatist agenda," you immediately put your credibility in doubt...
What's driving Seattle's opposition to international trade pact? Income inequality, Bellevue rep says Puget Sound Business Journal ...The massive Trans Pacific Partnership is in “real trouble,” and much of that is because average voters find nothing in it for them. Regional debate about the 12-nation TPP trade agreement has been fiery recently, with the Seattle City Council last month unanimously voting to oppose it in the current form...
State & Living Wage Battles
Judge Overturns Gov. Rauner’s Order Restricting Union Dues CBS ...A judge has issued an order requiring Illinois government agencies to immediately reinstate mandatory union dues for nonmembers. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner last month issued an executive order ending the dues, which nonmembers must pay to cover the cost of non-political union activities that benefit all employees...
Gov. Rauner hopes deal will speed resolution of union dues dispute State Journal-Register ...Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration has agreed to allow government agencies to resume taking fees from the paychecks of nonunion members to cover union representation while his lawsuit challenging the legality of the fees is resolved in court...
Reining in payday loans falls by wayside in New Mexico Associated Press ...High-interest lending practices have been a target of consumer advocates for decades in New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the country. They failed again this year in the Legislature, however, as bills that would have capped interest rates on payday loans at 36 percent fell by the wayside...
Why the federal government still sometimes doesn’t obey its own minimum wage laws Washington Post ...The Service Contract Act is obscure, and the Department of Labor has to police every complaint, so sometimes it's just overlooked. In its complaint, Good Jobs Nation says in total the violations have deprived 65 workers of $1,578,700 in wages at three workplaces over the two years the statute covers. Their findings illustrate the difficulty the federal government has had in enforcing its own laws...
Federal janitors and zoo groundskeepers file wage theft complaint Daily Kos ...The minimum wage isn't the only wage rate that applies—or should apply—to many federal contract workers, and a group of people who work in Washington, DC, institutions say they're not getting the pay they're legally entitled to. Janitors at the Department of Education, groundskeepers at the National Zoo, and tour bus drivers under a contract with the National Park Service say they haven't been getting the SCA-mandated prevailing wage
Workers Sue Walmart For Manipulating Employee Classification To Deny Them Overtime Pay Think Progress ...because they are labeled managers, they are exempt from federal overtime laws that require employers to pay workers time and a half for more than 40 hours of work a week. The lawsuit alleges that they “were ‘managers’ in name only because they did not have the managerial duties or authority”...
U.S. Labor
Doctors at University of California health clinics go on strike LA Times ...Unionized doctors began a strike Saturday at student health clinics on University of California campuses in Southern California, saying administrators had acted unfairly during negotiations for the physicians' first contract...
Striking Lyondell Houston refinery workers to weigh final offer Reuters ...More than 400 striking hourly workers represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW) at Lyondell Basell Industries' Houston refinery are scheduled to vote on the company's last, best and final offer on Monday and Tuesday, a local union official said on Sunday...
NEA: No Child Left Behind rewrite doesn’t level the playing field Washington Post ...The head of the country’s largest teachers union said that her organization does not support a bipartisan proposal in the Senate to replace the nation’s main federal education law because it does not go far enough to create equal educational opportunities for poor children...
Miscellaneous
Report Reveals How Corporate Tax Dodgers Avoid Paying Their Fair Share - or Any Share At All Common Dreams ...Pointing to egregious examples of Fortune 500 corporations "manipulating the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits," a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice makes a sharp case for corporate tax reform..,
Will Hillary's Constant Feeding at the Corporate Trough Make it Hard for Her to Embrace Needed Populism? (opinion) Alternet ...The Clinton campaign plans to focus on “economic security” – but the question is: whose? Clinton can adopt classical Democratic positions based on expanding the safety and boosting wages, but her ability to truly transform America's economy and reduce economic inequality will be hampered if she feels indebted to the very same corporations that made her husband and her rich...
Showing posts with label corporate tax avoidance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corporate tax avoidance. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2015
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The Whopper is about to become un-American
Burger King is the latest U.S. company to try to buy a smaller foreign country and move its mailing address there so it can pay lower taxes.
Burger King wants to buy Canadian restaurant chain Tim Horton's so it can take advantage of Canada's lower corporate tax rate.
Business Insider noticed the Burger King Facebook page was blowing up with criticism of the planned move:
A public outcry against similar plans by Walgreen's forced that company to scrap its plans to flee America's taxes. Let's hope the same happens to Burger King.
Burger King wants to buy Canadian restaurant chain Tim Horton's so it can take advantage of Canada's lower corporate tax rate.
Business Insider noticed the Burger King Facebook page was blowing up with criticism of the planned move:
Tax inversions have become a big corporate trend as companies seek to lower their tax bills. This time, though, we have a major household name taking advantage of it, and people have noticed.
Thousands of Burger King's seven-million-plus Facebook fans have described the fast-food restaurant with words like "traitor" and "un-American."We took a look. The comments are vivid and frequent:
- Now that Burger King is moving its headquarters to Canada (to take advantage of a lower corporate tax rate) will U.S. tax payers still be on the hook for food stamps and other benefits paid to Burger King's U.S. employees? If Americans are going to subsidize minimum wage workers they might want to eat their cheeseburgers from a company that at least has enough respect to fly its corporate flag in the U.S.
- No more whoppers for me.
- Congrats to BK. Great business thinking. Now that your gonna save all this money why not pass it on to the employees. Raise their pay with all the extra money. You can afford it now.
- Burger King as dead to me as Walmart.
- We don't believe you and refuse to do business with any corporation that moves from the USA. I will not be going to a Burger King again. Just greedy people trying to drive down the middle class and treating their workers like slaves. Shame on you and the whole corporate America. Your nasty food is no good for Americans to eat anyway. We do pray for the pitiful workers that will get the brunt of this. It is always the middle and lower class that gets the boot while people like CEO's get to pack in fortunes for themselves and their buds. Try to sell all of burgers in Canada. We don't want anymore of them. Fly a Canadian flag.
A public outcry against similar plans by Walgreen's forced that company to scrap its plans to flee America's taxes. Let's hope the same happens to Burger King.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.15.14
Teamster News
Avalon Teamsters stage 6-hour demonstration over wages, benefits CantonRep.com ...About 20 members of Teamsters Local 92 employed by Avalon Foodservice walked off the job for about six hours Monday in what a union official called a “pre-strike” demonstration over wages and health insurance...
A federal agency is about to answer the question: Who do you actually work for? Washington Post ...the NLRB has granted an appeal from the Teamsters, which attempted to hold an election for all employees of a recycling plant in Milpitas, Calif. -- not just the staffing agency that controls the bulk of the payroll -- after a regional panel found in favor of Browning-Ferris Industries...
Trade
Carmakers Are Central Voice in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks New York Times ...European and American automakers are some of the biggest corporate proponents of a new trans-Atlantic trade pact, even as some other industries oppose disrupting the status quo. Negotiations for that pact, which have struggled to gain momentum for more than a year, resumed Monday in Brussels...
Manufacturing groups press for broad tariff elimination The Hill ...More than a dozen manufacturing groups on Friday urged the Obama administration to press for the elimination of all tariffs as part of the Asia-Pacific trade deal negotiations...
What's next in the OCTG trade case? manufacture this ...It's not over yet. Those tariffs that Commerce announced? Now they go over to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which will have to confirm them. That means the petitioners in the Commerce case (U.S. Steel and other domestic OCTG makers) will have to prove injury or the threat of injury to their industry...
State Battles
Prison food supplier has Michigan officials at wit's end Detroit Free Press ...Maggots in the kitchen and on the chow line. Workers caught smuggling contraband or engaging in sex acts with inmates. Food shortages and angry prisoners. Those are among the problems that have plagued Michigan prisons since December when the state — in a move aimed at saving more than $12 million a year — switched from using state workers to feed prisoners to a private contractor, Aramark Correctional Services of Philadelphia...
Kansas’ Ruinous Tax Cuts (opinion) New York Times ...The 2012 cuts were among the largest ever enacted by a state, reducing the top tax bracket by 25 percent and eliminating all taxes on business profits that are reported on individual income returns…Kansas, in fact, was one of only five states to lose employment over the last six months, while the rest of the country was improving. It has been below the national average in job gains for the three and half years Mr. Brownback has been in office. Average earnings in the state are down since 2012, and so is net growth in the number of registered businesses...
War On Workers
U.S. Drug Firms Seek Inversion Deals to Evade Taxes New York Times ...By buying a smaller overseas competitor and reincorporating abroad — a maneuver called inversion — health care companies are extricating themselves from the American tax regimen...
Workers Struggle In Hamptons Playground For Rich USA Today ...Southampton, with its privet hedges, pristine beaches and some estates costing tens of millions, also is where 40% of children get free or reduced school lunches, where a food pantry serves up to 400 clients a month and where some doctors and nurses share homes owned by the local hospital because they can't afford to buy or rent...
United Airlines Opens Door For Raises For Low-Wage Airport Workers Newark Star-Ledger ...With raises at stake for 3,700 low-paid cabin cleaners, baggage handlers and other airport workers in Newark, United Airlines acknowledged that its contractors are typically bound to follow local laws or rules governing the airports where they work...
Avalon Teamsters stage 6-hour demonstration over wages, benefits CantonRep.com ...About 20 members of Teamsters Local 92 employed by Avalon Foodservice walked off the job for about six hours Monday in what a union official called a “pre-strike” demonstration over wages and health insurance...
A federal agency is about to answer the question: Who do you actually work for? Washington Post ...the NLRB has granted an appeal from the Teamsters, which attempted to hold an election for all employees of a recycling plant in Milpitas, Calif. -- not just the staffing agency that controls the bulk of the payroll -- after a regional panel found in favor of Browning-Ferris Industries...
Trade
Carmakers Are Central Voice in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks New York Times ...European and American automakers are some of the biggest corporate proponents of a new trans-Atlantic trade pact, even as some other industries oppose disrupting the status quo. Negotiations for that pact, which have struggled to gain momentum for more than a year, resumed Monday in Brussels...
Manufacturing groups press for broad tariff elimination The Hill ...More than a dozen manufacturing groups on Friday urged the Obama administration to press for the elimination of all tariffs as part of the Asia-Pacific trade deal negotiations...
What's next in the OCTG trade case? manufacture this ...It's not over yet. Those tariffs that Commerce announced? Now they go over to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which will have to confirm them. That means the petitioners in the Commerce case (U.S. Steel and other domestic OCTG makers) will have to prove injury or the threat of injury to their industry...
State Battles
Prison food supplier has Michigan officials at wit's end Detroit Free Press ...Maggots in the kitchen and on the chow line. Workers caught smuggling contraband or engaging in sex acts with inmates. Food shortages and angry prisoners. Those are among the problems that have plagued Michigan prisons since December when the state — in a move aimed at saving more than $12 million a year — switched from using state workers to feed prisoners to a private contractor, Aramark Correctional Services of Philadelphia...
Kansas’ Ruinous Tax Cuts (opinion) New York Times ...The 2012 cuts were among the largest ever enacted by a state, reducing the top tax bracket by 25 percent and eliminating all taxes on business profits that are reported on individual income returns…Kansas, in fact, was one of only five states to lose employment over the last six months, while the rest of the country was improving. It has been below the national average in job gains for the three and half years Mr. Brownback has been in office. Average earnings in the state are down since 2012, and so is net growth in the number of registered businesses...
War On Workers
U.S. Drug Firms Seek Inversion Deals to Evade Taxes New York Times ...By buying a smaller overseas competitor and reincorporating abroad — a maneuver called inversion — health care companies are extricating themselves from the American tax regimen...
Workers Struggle In Hamptons Playground For Rich USA Today ...Southampton, with its privet hedges, pristine beaches and some estates costing tens of millions, also is where 40% of children get free or reduced school lunches, where a food pantry serves up to 400 clients a month and where some doctors and nurses share homes owned by the local hospital because they can't afford to buy or rent...
United Airlines Opens Door For Raises For Low-Wage Airport Workers Newark Star-Ledger ...With raises at stake for 3,700 low-paid cabin cleaners, baggage handlers and other airport workers in Newark, United Airlines acknowledged that its contractors are typically bound to follow local laws or rules governing the airports where they work...
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
What will be the next turncoat company to move offshore?
It's called inversion. It's unpatriotic, unfair and unconscionable.
Two lawmakers want to end this form of corporate tax avoidance. Democratic U.S. Reps. Sander Levin of Michigan and Chris van Hollen of Maryland filed a bill late last month that would stop corporation inversions. According to their press statement,
...the Stop Corporate Expatriation and Invest in America’s Infrastructure Act (H.R. 4985). This legislation will put an end to corporate expatriations and devote the resulting revenue to the Highway Trust Fund. It will raise $19.5 billion in revenue over ten years and keep the Trust Fund solvent as Congress works on a long-term funding solution.In an op-ed, they argued,
Despite the fact that our nation has made significant investments to enable their success — investments like roads and bridges over which they move their products to consumers — more and more big corporations are using a legal maneuver to avoid their fair share of taxes. These corporations will combine with a smaller foreign firm and then claim that the combined corporation is no longer American for tax purposes. These corporate “inversions” cost American taxpayers billions of dollars and are unfair to the vast majority of businesses — large and small — that stay in America and pay their fair share. Unfortunately, Wall Street analysts expect this trend to continue and possibly accelerate.Here is a list of corporate inversions since 1983, according to Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.
1983 McDermott International
1994 Helen of Troy
1996 Triton Energy
Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI)
1997 Tyco International
Santa Fe International
1998 Fruit of the Loom
Gold Reserve
Playstar
1999 Transocean
White Mountain Insurance
Xoma
PXRE Group
Trenwick
2000 Applied Power
Everest Reinsurance
Seagate Technology
R&B Falcon
2001 Global Santa Fe Corporation
Foster Wheeler
Accenture
Global Marine
2002 Noble Corporation
Cooper Industries
Nabor Industries
Weatherford International
Ingersoll-Rand
PWC Consulting Ltd.
Herbalife International
2005 Luna Gold Corp
2007 Lincoln Gold Group
Western Goldfields
Star Maritime Acquisition Group
Fluid Media Networks
2008 Tyco Electric
Foster Wheeler
ACE Limited
Covidien
Patch Int'l Inc
Arcade Acquisition Grp
Energy Infrastructure Acquisition Group
Ascend Acquisition Group
2009 ENSCO International
Tim Hortons Inc
Hungarian Telephone and Cable Corporation
Alpha Security Group
Alyst Acquisition Group
2020 ChinaCap Acquirco
Ideation Acquisition Grp
InterAmerican Acquisition Group
Vantage Energy Services
2010 Plastinum Polymer Tech Corporation
Valient / Biovail
2011 Pride International
Alkermes, Inc.
2012 Pentair
Rowan Companies
AON
Tronox Inc
Sara Lee Corporation
Argonaut
Jazz Pharmaceuticals / Azur Pharma
D.E. Master Blenders
Eaton/Cooper
2013 Endo Health Solutions
Liberty Global PLC
Actavis / Warner Chilcott
Perrigo/Elan
Cadence Pharmaceuticals
2009-2014* AOE Corporation
Alkermes
DutchCo
Global Indemnity
Stratasys
TE Connectivity
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.13.14
Teamster News
Teamsters End Strike At PepsiCo Plant Indianapolis Star ...A 10-day strike involving about 350 Teamsters who work at a PepsiCo bottling plant on the Northwest side ended after they approved a new five-year contract...
National Labor Relations Board Rules In Favor Of Teamsters Against Durham teamster.org ...School bus drivers and monitors in Santa Rosa County, Fla., who are members of Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., have won a major victory in a decision handed down by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C...
AGY, Union Leaders Remain Mum As 'Lock Out' Continues Aiken Standard ...Employees aren't the only ones being "locked out" after Aiken's AGY plant reportedly deactivated the access badges of all it's workers more than a week ago...
Trade
The Free-Trade Regime: Oligarchy In Action Asia Times ...The United States is not really a democracy. That's the (simplified) conclusion of a recent study from Princeton University. Instead, economic elites and special interest groups enjoy tremendous sway in Washington, while "the preferences of the average American...
Trade accord carries health warning Stuff ...a trade deal is interfering with New Zealand doing the right thing to control cigarettes...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Republicans send two priorities back to House after late-night deal is struck St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Democrats agreed to stand down on a constitutional amendment to allow some early voting in Missouri and a measure to extend the waiting period before an abortion. In exchange, Senate Republicans agreed not to push for voter photo identification or the paycheck deduction bill...
Florida Couple Fined $746 For Crime Of Feeding Homeless People Think Progress ...After feeding the hungry in a Daytona Beach park every weekend for more than a year, it's just as easy to imagine Chico and Debbie Jiminez given a ticker-tape parade as what they actually got: a slew of citations and a permanent ban from the park...
GOP Vote Scheme Finally Imploding: Why The End May Be Here Salon.com ...it seems that the recent landmark court ruling in WI, followed by last week’s towel toss in Pennsylvania and embarrassing revelations in Iowa, may be seen in the not-too-distant future as the moment that the GOP “voter fraud” fraud finally began to permanently unravel...
For State Workers, a Thaw in Frozen Wages Stateline ...Government workers across the U.S. are expected to get raises this year, many of them for the first time since the Great Recession spurred states to freeze wages, furlough employees and slash workforces...
War On Workers
Looting The Pension Funds Rolling Stone Magazine ...In the final months of 2011, almost two years before the city of Detroit would shock America by declaring bankruptcy in the face of what it claimed were insurmountable pension costs, the state of Rhode Island took action to avert what it called its own looming pension crisis...
A Deal to Dodge the Tax Man in America New York Times ...Pfizer’s pursuit of AstraZeneca raises a huge public policy red flag. It plans to move its holding company to Britain from the United States so it can achieve a much lower tax rate and use cash that it has held abroad to avoid paying United States taxes...
ALEC Fires Back, But Proves Its 'Pro-Business' State Index Is Bogus Los Angeles Times ...Plainly stung by the chorus of ridicule that has greeted their latest attempt to paint anti-union policies and tax cuts for the rich as pathways to economic nirvana, the folks at the American Legislative Exchange Council have struck back with a "response to the critics"...
Despite Falling Revenues, Walmart Increases Pay for Top Execs firedoglake ...despite falling revenues, and despite only reluctantly paying minimum wage to its workers, Walmart increased the pay for its top executives...
Making Ends Meet At Walmart New York Times ...This has not been a good year for Walmart shareholders. Amid a torrid market over the last 12 months, this giant retailer's stock has flat lined, reflecting a slowdown in sales growth...
The Minimum Wage Loophole That's Screwing Over Waiters And Waitresses Mother Jones ...As Republicans stonewall President Obama's initiative to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016, some state lawmakers have taken the matter into their own hands...
Players Union Has Been Beneficial For Baseball Philadelphia Inquirer ...A prominent plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum contains this familiar quotation from French-born historian Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to learn the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball"...
Teamsters End Strike At PepsiCo Plant Indianapolis Star ...A 10-day strike involving about 350 Teamsters who work at a PepsiCo bottling plant on the Northwest side ended after they approved a new five-year contract...
National Labor Relations Board Rules In Favor Of Teamsters Against Durham teamster.org ...School bus drivers and monitors in Santa Rosa County, Fla., who are members of Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., have won a major victory in a decision handed down by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C...
AGY, Union Leaders Remain Mum As 'Lock Out' Continues Aiken Standard ...Employees aren't the only ones being "locked out" after Aiken's AGY plant reportedly deactivated the access badges of all it's workers more than a week ago...
Trade
The Free-Trade Regime: Oligarchy In Action Asia Times ...The United States is not really a democracy. That's the (simplified) conclusion of a recent study from Princeton University. Instead, economic elites and special interest groups enjoy tremendous sway in Washington, while "the preferences of the average American...
Trade accord carries health warning Stuff ...a trade deal is interfering with New Zealand doing the right thing to control cigarettes...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Republicans send two priorities back to House after late-night deal is struck St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Democrats agreed to stand down on a constitutional amendment to allow some early voting in Missouri and a measure to extend the waiting period before an abortion. In exchange, Senate Republicans agreed not to push for voter photo identification or the paycheck deduction bill...
Florida Couple Fined $746 For Crime Of Feeding Homeless People Think Progress ...After feeding the hungry in a Daytona Beach park every weekend for more than a year, it's just as easy to imagine Chico and Debbie Jiminez given a ticker-tape parade as what they actually got: a slew of citations and a permanent ban from the park...
GOP Vote Scheme Finally Imploding: Why The End May Be Here Salon.com ...it seems that the recent landmark court ruling in WI, followed by last week’s towel toss in Pennsylvania and embarrassing revelations in Iowa, may be seen in the not-too-distant future as the moment that the GOP “voter fraud” fraud finally began to permanently unravel...
For State Workers, a Thaw in Frozen Wages Stateline ...Government workers across the U.S. are expected to get raises this year, many of them for the first time since the Great Recession spurred states to freeze wages, furlough employees and slash workforces...
War On Workers
Looting The Pension Funds Rolling Stone Magazine ...In the final months of 2011, almost two years before the city of Detroit would shock America by declaring bankruptcy in the face of what it claimed were insurmountable pension costs, the state of Rhode Island took action to avert what it called its own looming pension crisis...
A Deal to Dodge the Tax Man in America New York Times ...Pfizer’s pursuit of AstraZeneca raises a huge public policy red flag. It plans to move its holding company to Britain from the United States so it can achieve a much lower tax rate and use cash that it has held abroad to avoid paying United States taxes...
ALEC Fires Back, But Proves Its 'Pro-Business' State Index Is Bogus Los Angeles Times ...Plainly stung by the chorus of ridicule that has greeted their latest attempt to paint anti-union policies and tax cuts for the rich as pathways to economic nirvana, the folks at the American Legislative Exchange Council have struck back with a "response to the critics"...
Despite Falling Revenues, Walmart Increases Pay for Top Execs firedoglake ...despite falling revenues, and despite only reluctantly paying minimum wage to its workers, Walmart increased the pay for its top executives...
Making Ends Meet At Walmart New York Times ...This has not been a good year for Walmart shareholders. Amid a torrid market over the last 12 months, this giant retailer's stock has flat lined, reflecting a slowdown in sales growth...
The Minimum Wage Loophole That's Screwing Over Waiters And Waitresses Mother Jones ...As Republicans stonewall President Obama's initiative to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016, some state lawmakers have taken the matter into their own hands...
Players Union Has Been Beneficial For Baseball Philadelphia Inquirer ...A prominent plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum contains this familiar quotation from French-born historian Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to learn the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball"...
Monday, April 21, 2014
Teamsters fight taxpayer subsidies for outrageous CEO pay
Take, for example, McKesson CEO John Hammergren, a union buster who took home $51.7 million last year after the company paid nearly $1 billion fines to settle charges it cheated its customers.
The Next New Deal blog explains how these CEOs are also looting taxpayers.
It started when President Bill Clinton signed a law eliminating corporate tax deductions for executive pay higher than $1 million. But the tax change had a loophole: so-called 'performance pay' was still tax exempt.
No surprise as to what happened next:
...companies started dispensing more compensation that qualified as performance pay, particularly stock options. Median executive compensation levels for S&P 500 Industrial companies almost tripled in the 1990s, mainly driven by a dramatic growth in stock options, which doubled in frequency...Performance pay made executives very wealthy, very fast. It motivated them to make shortsighted, risky and sometimes fraudulent decision to boost stock prices. Performance pay led to the mortgage crisis and global financial meltdown in 2008. It encourages CEOs to spend cash on buying back stock to boost the price, rather than research and development, capital investment, workforce training, higher wages and more hiring.
What's worse, taxpayers subsidize that behavior. The Economic Policy Institute estimates taxpayers paid $30 billion for that loophole between 2007-10. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the CEOs of the top six public food chains “pocketed more than $183 million in performance pay, lowering their companies’ IRS bills by an estimated $64 million.”
Democratic Sens. Ralph Blumenthal of Connecticut and Jack Reed of Rhode Island introduced the Stop Subsidizing Multi-Million Dollar Corporate Bonuses Act, which would end taxpayers’ subsidies to CEOs by closing the performance pay loophole. Teamsters are actively lobbying for more co-sponsors to a companion bill in the House, sponsored by Democratic Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggettl.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.15.14
Teamster News
Teamsters say Rite Aid dishonest West Virginia Metro News ...Teamsters Local 175 said Monday it is developing a strategy in response to Rite Aid’s announcement that it will close its longtime distribution center in Poca within two years eliminating 230 jobs...
Teamsters complain prison bonus plan is a popularity contest The Current ...The union representing correctional officers in Florida prisons is protesting the $600 bonus plan for rewarding top-performing state employees, claiming that thousands of guards whose work was not evaluated by supervisors will be shut out through no fault of their own...
NY Teamsters ratify historic 5-year contract with Phoenix/Lobo Beverages TeamsterNation ...Here's great news from our brothers at Teamsters Local 812: They ratified a terrific contract that solidifies job security, pay increases, pension and medical protection...
Pasco County Florida Employees Ratify Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Pasco County employees have ratified their first Teamster contract, ushering in strong on-the-job representation for more than 1,100 public sector workers across the county...
Carriages Belong in Central Park (opinion by Liam Neeson) New York Times ...It has been my experience, always, that horses, much like humans, are at their happiest and healthiest when working. Horses have been pulling from the beginning of time. It is what they have been bred to do...
Oxford County To Offer Deputies Contract Deal Oxford Hills Sun Journal ...Oxford County Commissioners are expected to present a contract to the labor union representing sheriff's deputies in a negotiation session planned for later this month...
BLET Fighting to Protect Worker, Public Safety in Rulemaking BLET ...From the day FRA placed crew size before its Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, the railroads have attempted to hold the issue hostage to the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, a stance that was publicly confirmed by the Association of American Railroads earlier this week...
Trade
Are The Administration's Claims Of Progress On Trans Pacific Partnership Negotiations In Japan Credible? EconoMonitor ...As readers may know, the mislabeled trade deal known as the Trans Pacific Partnership hasn't looked like it has great odds of being consummated. The WikiLeaks publication of two important draft chapters show considerable opposition...
State Battles
Missouri House Expected To Try Again To Collect Enough "Right To Work" Votes St. Louis Public Radio ...The Missouri House could vote as soon as Tuesday on a renewed attempt to garner enough votes to send to the state Senate a measure to put a “right to work” proposal on the August ballot...
Unions Attack Right-To-Work Workplace Choice ...The battle over right-to-work is heating up in Missouri, as proponents and opponents pour on the rhetoric. Advocates argue that right-to-work, approved by the Missouri House on Wednesday, would enhance individual freedom by giving workers the option to choose whether or not they become part of a union...
War on Workers
Labor Commissioner Cracks Down On Wage Theft; Orders Reparations To Maids Fired For Cooperating In Wage Theft Investigation Digital Journal ...California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su fined San Carles-based Sunflowers Maid Service for $394,944 in unpaid wages and premiums to be paid back to affected workers, plus civil penalties...
Social Security stops trying to collect on old debts by seizing tax refunds Washington Post ...In many cases, the people whose refunds were intercepted had never heard of any debt, and the debts dated as far back as the middle of the past century...
In Many Cities, Rent Is Rising Out of Reach of Middle Class New York Times ...An analysis for The New York Times by Zillow, the real estate website, found 90 cities where the median rent — not including utilities — was more than 30 percent of the median gross income...
The Hedge Fund Managers Tax Break: Because Wall Streeters Want Your Money truthout ...or all the sneaky and squirrelly ways that the rich use to escape their tax liability, none can beat the hedge fund managers' tax break...
Primer On Who Subverted The NLRB Election At Volkswagon The Hill ...On Wednesday, the UAW subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Tennessee Gov./Bill Haslam (R) and 18 other state officials to appear at the NRLB hearing into third party intervention in the union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga...
Miscellaneous
Kain Colter's Unionization Effort Fueled By Compassion, Common Sense (opinion) The Washington Post ...Kain ...Colter spoke about ensuring that the next generation of athletes diagnosed with concussions and other medical ailments, suffered while giving their bodies to old State U., would be taken care of after they graduate...
Teamsters say Rite Aid dishonest West Virginia Metro News ...Teamsters Local 175 said Monday it is developing a strategy in response to Rite Aid’s announcement that it will close its longtime distribution center in Poca within two years eliminating 230 jobs...
Teamsters complain prison bonus plan is a popularity contest The Current ...The union representing correctional officers in Florida prisons is protesting the $600 bonus plan for rewarding top-performing state employees, claiming that thousands of guards whose work was not evaluated by supervisors will be shut out through no fault of their own...
NY Teamsters ratify historic 5-year contract with Phoenix/Lobo Beverages TeamsterNation ...Here's great news from our brothers at Teamsters Local 812: They ratified a terrific contract that solidifies job security, pay increases, pension and medical protection...
Pasco County Florida Employees Ratify Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Pasco County employees have ratified their first Teamster contract, ushering in strong on-the-job representation for more than 1,100 public sector workers across the county...
Carriages Belong in Central Park (opinion by Liam Neeson) New York Times ...It has been my experience, always, that horses, much like humans, are at their happiest and healthiest when working. Horses have been pulling from the beginning of time. It is what they have been bred to do...
Oxford County To Offer Deputies Contract Deal Oxford Hills Sun Journal ...Oxford County Commissioners are expected to present a contract to the labor union representing sheriff's deputies in a negotiation session planned for later this month...
BLET Fighting to Protect Worker, Public Safety in Rulemaking BLET ...From the day FRA placed crew size before its Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, the railroads have attempted to hold the issue hostage to the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, a stance that was publicly confirmed by the Association of American Railroads earlier this week...
Trade
Are The Administration's Claims Of Progress On Trans Pacific Partnership Negotiations In Japan Credible? EconoMonitor ...As readers may know, the mislabeled trade deal known as the Trans Pacific Partnership hasn't looked like it has great odds of being consummated. The WikiLeaks publication of two important draft chapters show considerable opposition...
State Battles
Missouri House Expected To Try Again To Collect Enough "Right To Work" Votes St. Louis Public Radio ...The Missouri House could vote as soon as Tuesday on a renewed attempt to garner enough votes to send to the state Senate a measure to put a “right to work” proposal on the August ballot...
Unions Attack Right-To-Work Workplace Choice ...The battle over right-to-work is heating up in Missouri, as proponents and opponents pour on the rhetoric. Advocates argue that right-to-work, approved by the Missouri House on Wednesday, would enhance individual freedom by giving workers the option to choose whether or not they become part of a union...
War on Workers
Labor Commissioner Cracks Down On Wage Theft; Orders Reparations To Maids Fired For Cooperating In Wage Theft Investigation Digital Journal ...California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su fined San Carles-based Sunflowers Maid Service for $394,944 in unpaid wages and premiums to be paid back to affected workers, plus civil penalties...
Social Security stops trying to collect on old debts by seizing tax refunds Washington Post ...In many cases, the people whose refunds were intercepted had never heard of any debt, and the debts dated as far back as the middle of the past century...
In Many Cities, Rent Is Rising Out of Reach of Middle Class New York Times ...An analysis for The New York Times by Zillow, the real estate website, found 90 cities where the median rent — not including utilities — was more than 30 percent of the median gross income...
The Hedge Fund Managers Tax Break: Because Wall Streeters Want Your Money truthout ...or all the sneaky and squirrelly ways that the rich use to escape their tax liability, none can beat the hedge fund managers' tax break...
Primer On Who Subverted The NLRB Election At Volkswagon The Hill ...On Wednesday, the UAW subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Tennessee Gov./Bill Haslam (R) and 18 other state officials to appear at the NRLB hearing into third party intervention in the union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga...
Miscellaneous
Kain Colter's Unionization Effort Fueled By Compassion, Common Sense (opinion) The Washington Post ...Kain ...Colter spoke about ensuring that the next generation of athletes diagnosed with concussions and other medical ailments, suffered while giving their bodies to old State U., would be taken care of after they graduate...
Monday, March 3, 2014
Today's Teamster News 03.03.14
Trade
As TPP Opposition Soars, Corporate Media Blackout Deafening Common Dreams ...Opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership—dubbed 'NAFTA on steroids'—is receiving unprecedented popular opposition and nearly no news coverage by major outlets...
State Battles
While Duke Energy Dodges Taxes, Its Pollution Costs the Public Dearly truthout ...The investor-owned company earned over $9 billion in profits during those years but received tax rebates totaling $299 million...
The War on Workers
Thrown in jail for being poor: the booming for-profit probation industry The Guardian ...Many poor Americans face jail when they can’t pay steep fines for nonviolent crimes, like $1,000 for stealing a $2 beer...
Income Inequality Hurts Economic Growth, But Fixing It Doesn’t ThinkProgress ...the conservative policy notion that a rising economic tide will lift even the poorest people’s boats is not supported by the data. It is “a mistake to focus on growth and let inequality take care of itself,” they write, in part because inequality impairs the growth poor people need to make gains...
Deficit Is Falling Because Of Government Austerity, Not Economic Recovery The Real News ...the deficit has been falling, as you mentioned, at its fastest clip since the end of World War II, and it's actually been falling at a pretty rapid clip for quite a long time now...
India's tea firms urged to act on slave trafficking after girls freed The Guardian ...Plantations pay below minimum wage, which campaigners say strengthens hand of slavers who take girls as young as 11...
Discover Faces Investigation Into Student Loan Debt Collection Practices Amid Rising Delinquencies Buzzfeed ...Discover Financial Services, one of the biggest providers of private student loans, is facing an investigation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its loan servicing practices...
Miscellaneous
Where Have All the Lobbyists Gone? The Nation ...On paper, the influence-peddling business is drying up. But lobbying money is flooding Washington, DC like never before. What’s going on?...
As TPP Opposition Soars, Corporate Media Blackout Deafening Common Dreams ...Opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership—dubbed 'NAFTA on steroids'—is receiving unprecedented popular opposition and nearly no news coverage by major outlets...
State Battles
While Duke Energy Dodges Taxes, Its Pollution Costs the Public Dearly truthout ...The investor-owned company earned over $9 billion in profits during those years but received tax rebates totaling $299 million...
The War on Workers
Thrown in jail for being poor: the booming for-profit probation industry The Guardian ...Many poor Americans face jail when they can’t pay steep fines for nonviolent crimes, like $1,000 for stealing a $2 beer...
Income Inequality Hurts Economic Growth, But Fixing It Doesn’t ThinkProgress ...the conservative policy notion that a rising economic tide will lift even the poorest people’s boats is not supported by the data. It is “a mistake to focus on growth and let inequality take care of itself,” they write, in part because inequality impairs the growth poor people need to make gains...
Deficit Is Falling Because Of Government Austerity, Not Economic Recovery The Real News ...the deficit has been falling, as you mentioned, at its fastest clip since the end of World War II, and it's actually been falling at a pretty rapid clip for quite a long time now...
India's tea firms urged to act on slave trafficking after girls freed The Guardian ...Plantations pay below minimum wage, which campaigners say strengthens hand of slavers who take girls as young as 11...
Discover Faces Investigation Into Student Loan Debt Collection Practices Amid Rising Delinquencies Buzzfeed ...Discover Financial Services, one of the biggest providers of private student loans, is facing an investigation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its loan servicing practices...
Miscellaneous
Where Have All the Lobbyists Gone? The Nation ...On paper, the influence-peddling business is drying up. But lobbying money is flooding Washington, DC like never before. What’s going on?...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.12.14
Salt and plow truck drivers ratify contract that avoided strike Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Members of Teamsters Local 249, whose salt and plow truck drivers threatened to strike last week as snow loomed in the forecast, ratified a contract Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the union...
Bay Valley strike continues Sauk Valley Media ...Negotiations between Bay Valley Foods and Teamsters Local 722 are expected to continue. The two sides met for 3 hours on Friday and Sunday with a federal mediator, but "very little progress" had been made...
CCTA Workers Vote Down Contract, Strike Looms My Champlain Valley ...The workers at CCTA voted down the company's best offer by 53-4. The nearly 70 employees, represented by Local 597 in South Barre, Vermont could go on strike in two weeks...
Miller Waste talks in conciliation Owen Sound Sun Times ...Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 879 and The Miller Group's waste division in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada have moved into the conciliation stage as they negotiate a first contract...
The Latest Attack on Public Sector Unions: Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania and Missouri Truthout ...The GOP offensive against public sector unions at the state level that began in earnest in Wisconsin and Ohio in early 2011 is far from over. In its more recent manifestation, Republican politicians in Missouri and Pennsylvania are once again promoting so-called "paycheck protection" legislation, which they claim will protect the interests of ordinary workers. Nothing could be further from the truth...
Republican caucus divided on RTW strategy for 2014 Missouri Times ...“It’s a fractious issue for us as a caucus,” Rep. Myron Neth, R-Liberty said. “And for some of us, we see it as something that will likely lose us some seats in the legislature...”
Missouri House committee endorses ‘right to work’ Kansas City Star ...A Missouri House committee has endorsed a measure, known as “right to work,” that would bar labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Tenn. lawmakers issue incentive threat in VW union move USA Today ...Not only are Republican legislators accusing Volkswagen of backing the UAW, some of their leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tax incentives for future expansion of the 3-year-old assembly plant in Chattanooga if workers vote this week to join the UAW...
How Tennessee Papers Are Helping The Anti-Union Fight Media Matters ...Two major Tennessee newspapers are aiding opposition to unionization efforts at a Volkswagen plant in the state by hiding the facts about union support and outside conservative influences...
Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places ThinkProgress ...On a party-line vote, a Florida county’s Republican majority Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate almost one-third of Manatee County’s voting sites...
Labor Battle at Kellogg Plant in Memphis Drags On New York Times ...For more than three months, Kellogg has locked out more than 200 workers, barring them from returning to their jobs making Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops until their union agrees to a new contract...
Flight Attendants Reach Truce with United Airlines Over ‘Involuntary Furloughs’ In These Times ...United Airlines attendants still face furloughs and a possible shift to the Continental side of the company, but on the union's terms...
2013 Trade Data Show Why Fast Tracking a TPP NAFTA Expansion Is a Very Bad Idea Huffington Post ...The only good news in the just-released 2013 U.S. trade data is that it can only reinforce growing congressional and public opposition to more-of-the-same trade agreements...
Business groups want early TPP The Japan News ...Leaders of three major business groups requested that talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact be concluded early...
A Walmart Worker Explains Why Walmart's Customer Service Is Horrible Gawker ...store manager's and assistant manager's incentive bonuses (to the tune of $80K for store managers and $20K for assistant managers, once yearly) are partially determined by how much they can bring scheduled hours/payroll DOWN from the year before (of course, while still keeping sales up...
London tube strike called off after talks produce breakthrough The Guardian ...Unions planning 48-hour strike from Tuesday will no longer take action after bosses come up with new proposals...
States Crack Down On Corporate Tax Loophole While Congress Does Nothing Huffington Post ...Montana isn't often considered a fiscal policy pioneer, but in 2003 lawmakers closed a corporate tax loophole that was costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. A decade later, other cash-strapped states are finally following Montana's lead...
Tech Giants Push US Gov To Limit Surveillance Programs Associated Press ...A coalition of the nation's leading technology firms is urging changes in the government's spying programs...
Bay Valley strike continues Sauk Valley Media ...Negotiations between Bay Valley Foods and Teamsters Local 722 are expected to continue. The two sides met for 3 hours on Friday and Sunday with a federal mediator, but "very little progress" had been made...
CCTA Workers Vote Down Contract, Strike Looms My Champlain Valley ...The workers at CCTA voted down the company's best offer by 53-4. The nearly 70 employees, represented by Local 597 in South Barre, Vermont could go on strike in two weeks...
Miller Waste talks in conciliation Owen Sound Sun Times ...Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 879 and The Miller Group's waste division in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada have moved into the conciliation stage as they negotiate a first contract...
The Latest Attack on Public Sector Unions: Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania and Missouri Truthout ...The GOP offensive against public sector unions at the state level that began in earnest in Wisconsin and Ohio in early 2011 is far from over. In its more recent manifestation, Republican politicians in Missouri and Pennsylvania are once again promoting so-called "paycheck protection" legislation, which they claim will protect the interests of ordinary workers. Nothing could be further from the truth...
Republican caucus divided on RTW strategy for 2014 Missouri Times ...“It’s a fractious issue for us as a caucus,” Rep. Myron Neth, R-Liberty said. “And for some of us, we see it as something that will likely lose us some seats in the legislature...”
Missouri House committee endorses ‘right to work’ Kansas City Star ...A Missouri House committee has endorsed a measure, known as “right to work,” that would bar labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Tenn. lawmakers issue incentive threat in VW union move USA Today ...Not only are Republican legislators accusing Volkswagen of backing the UAW, some of their leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tax incentives for future expansion of the 3-year-old assembly plant in Chattanooga if workers vote this week to join the UAW...
How Tennessee Papers Are Helping The Anti-Union Fight Media Matters ...Two major Tennessee newspapers are aiding opposition to unionization efforts at a Volkswagen plant in the state by hiding the facts about union support and outside conservative influences...
Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places ThinkProgress ...On a party-line vote, a Florida county’s Republican majority Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate almost one-third of Manatee County’s voting sites...
Labor Battle at Kellogg Plant in Memphis Drags On New York Times ...For more than three months, Kellogg has locked out more than 200 workers, barring them from returning to their jobs making Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops until their union agrees to a new contract...
Flight Attendants Reach Truce with United Airlines Over ‘Involuntary Furloughs’ In These Times ...United Airlines attendants still face furloughs and a possible shift to the Continental side of the company, but on the union's terms...
2013 Trade Data Show Why Fast Tracking a TPP NAFTA Expansion Is a Very Bad Idea Huffington Post ...The only good news in the just-released 2013 U.S. trade data is that it can only reinforce growing congressional and public opposition to more-of-the-same trade agreements...
Business groups want early TPP The Japan News ...Leaders of three major business groups requested that talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact be concluded early...
A Walmart Worker Explains Why Walmart's Customer Service Is Horrible Gawker ...store manager's and assistant manager's incentive bonuses (to the tune of $80K for store managers and $20K for assistant managers, once yearly) are partially determined by how much they can bring scheduled hours/payroll DOWN from the year before (of course, while still keeping sales up...
London tube strike called off after talks produce breakthrough The Guardian ...Unions planning 48-hour strike from Tuesday will no longer take action after bosses come up with new proposals...
States Crack Down On Corporate Tax Loophole While Congress Does Nothing Huffington Post ...Montana isn't often considered a fiscal policy pioneer, but in 2003 lawmakers closed a corporate tax loophole that was costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. A decade later, other cash-strapped states are finally following Montana's lead...
Tech Giants Push US Gov To Limit Surveillance Programs Associated Press ...A coalition of the nation's leading technology firms is urging changes in the government's spying programs...
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.12.13
Teamsters Join Delegation Calling On IKEA To End Lockout teamster.org ...A representative from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined a delegation in Sweden this week to ask IKEA to end the abuse of its workers and stop the lockout...
Hoffa: Detroit Bankruptcy Doesn't Change Pension Obligations Detroit News ...Mayor-elect Mike Duggan and the City Council, elected by Detroit residents, should be put in charge of crafting a plan that will protect pensioners and give them both security and certainty going forward...
It's Time to End the Secrecy Surrounding TPP Huffington Post ...The Teamsters, other unions and fair trade advocates have for years criticized a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal for its lack of transparency...
Study: Labor violations don't stop government contracts Associated Press ...The study from Democratic leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee found that nearly 30 percent of companies hit with the highest penalties for federal labor law violations from 2007 to 2012 were also federal contractors...
Airline Deregulation: How Ideology Triumphed Over Evidence in the U.S. Airline Industry Alternet ...any rational cost-benefit analysis must conclude that deregulation has been a failed experiment...
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA USA Today ...Local police are increasingly able to scoop up large amounts of cellphone data using new technologies, including cell tower dumps and secret mobile devices known as Stingrays...
Pensions Become Less Certain For Government Workers Northeast Indiana Public Radio ...The budget agreement announced Tuesday — if it passes — would raise revenue by making employees contribute more toward their pensions...
Americans Say Dream Fading as Income Gap Hurts Chances Bloomberg ...By almost two to one -- 64 percent to 33 percent -- Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead...
16-Year-Old Drunk Driver Who Killed Four Escapes Jail — Because He Is Rich Alternet ...Couch's attorney argued his parents were responsible for the teen’s actions because they had raised him to believe that wealth and privilege could shield him from consequences. ... Apparently the judge bought that argument...
Billions of Tax Dollars Later, No New Jobs for New York taxanalysts.com ...Over nine years, the state of New York gave businesses roughly $10 billion, or almost $1,400 from each household, in a jobs program that eliminated 175,000 jobs at an average cost of $57,000. And that's just state-level subsidies, not those from industrial development agencies...
Pensions Aren't the Source of Detroit's Woes Portside ...Since 2008, Detroit has reduced its spending by more than $400 million. In the same period, city revenues have fallen by nearly $260 million, with a steep decline after 2011. … And yet there is one expense that has, so far, been spared: service fees on derivatives that were sold to the city by banks backed by UBS and Bank of America. In fact, these fees are the only significant increase in spending over the past five years...
Far-Right Lobby Group ALEC Brags That All Politicians in Two State Legislatures Are Members Alternet ...Iowa has 150 in each column, and South Dakota has 105 in each column...
Hoffa: Detroit Bankruptcy Doesn't Change Pension Obligations Detroit News ...Mayor-elect Mike Duggan and the City Council, elected by Detroit residents, should be put in charge of crafting a plan that will protect pensioners and give them both security and certainty going forward...
It's Time to End the Secrecy Surrounding TPP Huffington Post ...The Teamsters, other unions and fair trade advocates have for years criticized a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal for its lack of transparency...
Study: Labor violations don't stop government contracts Associated Press ...The study from Democratic leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee found that nearly 30 percent of companies hit with the highest penalties for federal labor law violations from 2007 to 2012 were also federal contractors...
Airline Deregulation: How Ideology Triumphed Over Evidence in the U.S. Airline Industry Alternet ...any rational cost-benefit analysis must conclude that deregulation has been a failed experiment...
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA USA Today ...Local police are increasingly able to scoop up large amounts of cellphone data using new technologies, including cell tower dumps and secret mobile devices known as Stingrays...
Pensions Become Less Certain For Government Workers Northeast Indiana Public Radio ...The budget agreement announced Tuesday — if it passes — would raise revenue by making employees contribute more toward their pensions...
Americans Say Dream Fading as Income Gap Hurts Chances Bloomberg ...By almost two to one -- 64 percent to 33 percent -- Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead...
16-Year-Old Drunk Driver Who Killed Four Escapes Jail — Because He Is Rich Alternet ...Couch's attorney argued his parents were responsible for the teen’s actions because they had raised him to believe that wealth and privilege could shield him from consequences. ... Apparently the judge bought that argument...
Billions of Tax Dollars Later, No New Jobs for New York taxanalysts.com ...Over nine years, the state of New York gave businesses roughly $10 billion, or almost $1,400 from each household, in a jobs program that eliminated 175,000 jobs at an average cost of $57,000. And that's just state-level subsidies, not those from industrial development agencies...
Pensions Aren't the Source of Detroit's Woes Portside ...Since 2008, Detroit has reduced its spending by more than $400 million. In the same period, city revenues have fallen by nearly $260 million, with a steep decline after 2011. … And yet there is one expense that has, so far, been spared: service fees on derivatives that were sold to the city by banks backed by UBS and Bank of America. In fact, these fees are the only significant increase in spending over the past five years...
Far-Right Lobby Group ALEC Brags That All Politicians in Two State Legislatures Are Members Alternet ...Iowa has 150 in each column, and South Dakota has 105 in each column...
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Leading Democrat warns: Americans want a third party
A leading Democrat strategist is trying to send a wake-up call to his party, warning that Americans are sick to death of politicians and are ready for a third party.
Politico got hold of a memo he wrote, warning a rising populist tide threatens to swamp both parties. His name is Doug Sosnik, and he was a close adviser to President Bill Clinton. The magazine published his memo in full under the title, 'Which Side of the Barricade Are You On?' (Teamsters know where we stand!)
Key points:
Politico got hold of a memo he wrote, warning a rising populist tide threatens to swamp both parties. His name is Doug Sosnik, and he was a close adviser to President Bill Clinton. The magazine published his memo in full under the title, 'Which Side of the Barricade Are You On?' (Teamsters know where we stand!)
Key points:
- Americans’ alienation from our political system and its leaders has been building for more than a decade.
- Americans are worried about the struggles of the battered middle class, whose real incomes have not improved in more than two decades (Note: actually, wages have declined), the elimination of special deals for the wealthy and big business and the protection of the public’s privacy from what they see as predatory companies and an intrusive federal government.
- There is a pent up desire for dramatic change (check).
- Americans have concluded that the rules aren’t fair and that the system has been rigged to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a privileged few at the expense of the many (check).
- For the first time in our country’s history, there is more social mobility in Europe than in the United States.
- One in six Americans lived at or below the poverty line last year – almost 50 million people.
Americans’ long-brewing discontent shows clear signs of reaching a boiling point. And when it happens, the country will judge its politicians through a new filter—one that asks, “Which side of the barricade are you on? Is it the side of the out-of-touch political class that clings to the status quo by protecting those at the top and their own political agendas, or is it the side that is fighting for the kind of change that will make the government work for the people—all the people?”Check.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.08.13
Teamster Taxi Drivers Call On D.C. Mayor To Apologize For Offensive Comment teamster.org ...“District taxi drivers are calling on Mayor Vincent Gray to publicly apologize for the shameful and callous comment made by his spokesman yesterday in an online Washingtonian article about a lawsuit filed by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association...
New lawsuit targets D.C. taxicab rules Washington Post ...D.C.’s new Teamsters-affilliated cab drivers group has wasted no time raising its profile. On Monday, less than a week after holding their first organization meeting, the members marched to deliver a letter to Mayor Vincent Gray protesting the city’s decision to impound taxis that failed to install new dome lights by Nov. 1...
Talks Begin Between A-B InBev, Teamsters CBS KMOX News ...It’s uncharted territory as the Teamsters begin contract talks with Anheuser-Busch InBev for the first talks since InBev purchased A-B five years ago...
A Message to our Active-Duty Military and Veterans from Jim Hoffa teamster.org ...On this Veteran’s Day, I want to say thank you for your service to our country. The Teamsters Union is so grateful to all the men and women in uniform, from recent active duty veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq to those who have served in previous years...
International Fact-Finding Mission To Probe IKEA’s Behavior In Canada itfglobal.org ...An international fact-finding team has arrived in Canada to examine an ongoing dispute at Swedish retail giant IKEA’s Richmond, British Columbia, store. The team is tasked with investigating the situation at the store, where 350 workers who are members of Teamsters Local 213, have been locked out by the company...
Greensburg City Council budget to call for no tax increase or service cuts, raises for public workers Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Greensburg City Council will introduce a 2014 budget next week that calls for no increase in real estate taxes or cuts in services, and a contract that includes a pay increase for the public service workers represented by Teamsters Local 30 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania...
Tearing out asbestos with bare hands: Meet the boss from hell Salon ...A group of immigrants say their boss wielded their status as a weapon when they stood up to extreme abuses: from hanging from the top of a four-story building without scaffolding, to removing asbestos without gloves...
“They have blood on their hands”: Meet Wal-Mart’s worst nightmare Salon ...A top Bangladesh labor leader slams retailers, issues a plea to consumers, and explains why her life is in danger...
Anonymous Wal-Mart workers unload and urge protests on new website Salon ...On second day of a strike, a labor group unveils the latest tool for combining the web with old-fashioned organizing...
How Can the New York Times Endorse an Agreement the Public Can't Read? Electronic Frontier Foundation ...The New York Times' editorial board has made a disappointing endorsement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), even as the actual text of the agreement remains secret. That raises two distressing possibilities: either in an act of extraordinary subservience, the Times has endorsed an agreement that neither the public nor its editors have the ability to read. Or, in an act of extraordinary cowardice, it has obtained a copy of the secret text and hasn't yet fulfilled its duty to the public interest to publish it...
Exxon “disappointed” with $2.7 million fine for Arkansas pipeline spill Salon ...The company was found to have violated safety regulations in the 5,000-gallon spill in Arkansas that forced residents to evacuate their homes…
Senate bill targets corporations that deduct settlement payouts Washington Post ...JPMorgan Chase’s pending $13 billion settlement with the Justice Department has revived calls from some in Congress that corporations should be prevented from claiming tax deductions on such deals...
Wall Street Bonuses May Rise 10 Percent This Year Reuters ...Wall Street's biggest risk takers - its bond traders - will probably see their bonuses drop this year, while people in safer roles, such as money managers, will likely get a boost, according to a forecast by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates...
Three Graphs That Show How Being A Young Adult In America Is A Financial Nightmare The Atlantic ...Poverty is an astonishingly common experience here in the world's richest country. Almost 40 percent of American adults experience it for at least a year by age 60...
The Cost Of Childcare Rose Last Year, Is More Than Rent Or Food ThinkProgress ...Families paid more for childcare in 2012 than in 2011, with the costs of center care rising by 2.7 percent for an infant and 2.6 percent for a four-year-old, which eat up a huge amount of families’ budgets, according to a new report...
FBI ‘Accidentally’ Investigated Anti-War Site For Six Years Fire Dog Lake ...When the managing editor of antiwar.com, sent an email to the FBI requesting help in dealing with threats to hack his website he probably didn’t realize HE was going to become the subject of the investigation. But that is exactly what happened. How do you "accidentally" do something for six years?...
C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data New York Times ...The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials...
As Twitter Goes Public, Taxpayers Stand To Lose Billions On Tech Stocks ThinkProgress ...The hotly anticipated Twitter IPO calls attention to stock option tax breaks that cost taxpayers billions...
Wells Fargo to pay $335M to settle FHFA dispute Associated Press ...Wells Fargo will pay $335 million to resolve claims that it misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about risky mortgage securities that it sold them prior to the housing collapse...
New lawsuit targets D.C. taxicab rules Washington Post ...D.C.’s new Teamsters-affilliated cab drivers group has wasted no time raising its profile. On Monday, less than a week after holding their first organization meeting, the members marched to deliver a letter to Mayor Vincent Gray protesting the city’s decision to impound taxis that failed to install new dome lights by Nov. 1...
Talks Begin Between A-B InBev, Teamsters CBS KMOX News ...It’s uncharted territory as the Teamsters begin contract talks with Anheuser-Busch InBev for the first talks since InBev purchased A-B five years ago...
A Message to our Active-Duty Military and Veterans from Jim Hoffa teamster.org ...On this Veteran’s Day, I want to say thank you for your service to our country. The Teamsters Union is so grateful to all the men and women in uniform, from recent active duty veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq to those who have served in previous years...
International Fact-Finding Mission To Probe IKEA’s Behavior In Canada itfglobal.org ...An international fact-finding team has arrived in Canada to examine an ongoing dispute at Swedish retail giant IKEA’s Richmond, British Columbia, store. The team is tasked with investigating the situation at the store, where 350 workers who are members of Teamsters Local 213, have been locked out by the company...
Greensburg City Council budget to call for no tax increase or service cuts, raises for public workers Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Greensburg City Council will introduce a 2014 budget next week that calls for no increase in real estate taxes or cuts in services, and a contract that includes a pay increase for the public service workers represented by Teamsters Local 30 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania...
Tearing out asbestos with bare hands: Meet the boss from hell Salon ...A group of immigrants say their boss wielded their status as a weapon when they stood up to extreme abuses: from hanging from the top of a four-story building without scaffolding, to removing asbestos without gloves...
“They have blood on their hands”: Meet Wal-Mart’s worst nightmare Salon ...A top Bangladesh labor leader slams retailers, issues a plea to consumers, and explains why her life is in danger...
Anonymous Wal-Mart workers unload and urge protests on new website Salon ...On second day of a strike, a labor group unveils the latest tool for combining the web with old-fashioned organizing...
How Can the New York Times Endorse an Agreement the Public Can't Read? Electronic Frontier Foundation ...The New York Times' editorial board has made a disappointing endorsement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), even as the actual text of the agreement remains secret. That raises two distressing possibilities: either in an act of extraordinary subservience, the Times has endorsed an agreement that neither the public nor its editors have the ability to read. Or, in an act of extraordinary cowardice, it has obtained a copy of the secret text and hasn't yet fulfilled its duty to the public interest to publish it...
Exxon “disappointed” with $2.7 million fine for Arkansas pipeline spill Salon ...The company was found to have violated safety regulations in the 5,000-gallon spill in Arkansas that forced residents to evacuate their homes…
Senate bill targets corporations that deduct settlement payouts Washington Post ...JPMorgan Chase’s pending $13 billion settlement with the Justice Department has revived calls from some in Congress that corporations should be prevented from claiming tax deductions on such deals...
Wall Street Bonuses May Rise 10 Percent This Year Reuters ...Wall Street's biggest risk takers - its bond traders - will probably see their bonuses drop this year, while people in safer roles, such as money managers, will likely get a boost, according to a forecast by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates...
Three Graphs That Show How Being A Young Adult In America Is A Financial Nightmare The Atlantic ...Poverty is an astonishingly common experience here in the world's richest country. Almost 40 percent of American adults experience it for at least a year by age 60...
The Cost Of Childcare Rose Last Year, Is More Than Rent Or Food ThinkProgress ...Families paid more for childcare in 2012 than in 2011, with the costs of center care rising by 2.7 percent for an infant and 2.6 percent for a four-year-old, which eat up a huge amount of families’ budgets, according to a new report...
FBI ‘Accidentally’ Investigated Anti-War Site For Six Years Fire Dog Lake ...When the managing editor of antiwar.com, sent an email to the FBI requesting help in dealing with threats to hack his website he probably didn’t realize HE was going to become the subject of the investigation. But that is exactly what happened. How do you "accidentally" do something for six years?...
C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data New York Times ...The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials...
As Twitter Goes Public, Taxpayers Stand To Lose Billions On Tech Stocks ThinkProgress ...The hotly anticipated Twitter IPO calls attention to stock option tax breaks that cost taxpayers billions...
Wells Fargo to pay $335M to settle FHFA dispute Associated Press ...Wells Fargo will pay $335 million to resolve claims that it misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about risky mortgage securities that it sold them prior to the housing collapse...
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.07.13
D.C. Taxi Operators Sue to Stop Fines, Towings teamster.org ...The Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city’s more than 6,000 cab drivers, demanding that the District stop towing and impounding taxis and issuing fines to drivers who have been unable to install new dome lights or credit card machines...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster EcommerceBytes.com ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks Los Angeles Times ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion) Lebanon Daily News ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program Truckinginfo ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation Economic Policy Institute ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory The Salon ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All Huffington Post ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class AlterNet ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World AlterNet ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes Zero Hedge ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can Los Angeles Times ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction Reuters ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors Los Angeles Times... The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment teamster.org ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster EcommerceBytes.com ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks Los Angeles Times ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion) Lebanon Daily News ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program Truckinginfo ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation Economic Policy Institute ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory The Salon ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All Huffington Post ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class AlterNet ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World AlterNet ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes Zero Hedge ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can Los Angeles Times ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction Reuters ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors Los Angeles Times... The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment teamster.org ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.06.13
Teamsters Urge Passage Of Employment Non-Discrimination Act teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union yesterday called on Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would provide strong federal protections against discrimination, making it illegal to base hiring decisions or to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity...
Hudson firm bids $11.7 million for Empire Die Casting in Macedonia, Ohio Nordonia Hills News-Leader ...The investment firm New Growth Capital Group has signed a letter of intent to purchase Macedonia's Empire Die Casting, an East Highland Road metal parts manufacturer, for $11.7 million. Approximately 170 workers there are represented by Cleveland-based Teamsters Local 416...
Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul Hope To Tack Right-To-Work Law Onto Employment Non-Discrimination Act Huffington Post ...Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have proposed an amendment to a workplace discrimination bill in the hopes of creating a national right-to-work law...
Apple creates 2,000 jobs shifting production back to US The Guardian ...The California technology titan is beginning to shift production back to its home market, with the creation of its second US plant in under a year. It is understood the renewable energy powered facility in Mesa, Arizona, will produce laboratory grown sapphire crystals of the kind used in the iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner...
A Daily Reminder That Thousands Die In Preventable Workplace Deaths Every Year Economic Policy Institute ...the Cal-OSHA Reporter News Digest ... is filled with grim stories of workers mangled by machinery, suffocated by corn in a silo, killed in falls or struck by a careless driver as they worked on the highway, or sometimes, killed in ways so horrible that it beggars the imagination...
Ripping Off College Students Economic Future Angry Bear ...Student Debt has quadrupled from 2003 to 2013 going from ~$240 billion to > $1,000,000,000. Up from 41% in 1989, 66% of all students now have an average debt of ~$27,000...
FAA Orders Additional Pilot Training Washington Post ...Almost four years after an upstate New York commuter plane crash killed 50 people, the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday imposed stricter training requirements for commercial airline pilots...
First Wall Street Criminal Confession in a Generation...Still No One in Jail The Real News ... Bill Black: SAC Capital Advisors pleads guilty to insider trading, but owner Steven Cohen has yet to face criminal prosecution...
Illinois unions hold strong despite blows to labor Associated Press ...Across the middle of the country, organized labor has taken one hit after another in places that were once union strongholds: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana, where workers lost bargaining power and saw their ranks shrink, leaving them weaker than almost any time in the past century. The notable exception is Illinois...
NLRB Moves Forward on Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against T-Mobile US cwa-union.org ...The National Labor Relations Board's Acting General Counsel announced that the U.S. government would prosecute T-Mobile US for violating U.S. labor law by illegally firing two workers at a Wichita, Kansas call center because of their union activity...
How Republicans Have Trashed The Economy, In 1 Chart Huffington Post ...The next time a Republican tells you government spending is out of control, this chart is all you need to prove otherwise...
America's Greatest Shame: Child Poverty Rises and Food Stamps Cut While Billionaires Boom AlterNet ...Since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, the percentage of poor children has climbed by 4.5 percent, while the income of the top 1 percent has risen by 34%.Why do we put up with such injustices?...
Half Of The World's Richest People Come From Just 2 Families Huffington Post ...Seven of the 12 richest people in the world have names ending in Koch, Walton or Adelson, according to a new calculation by Bloomberg Markets magazine. Of course, extreme wealth gives you a lot of political power. Here's how these folks wield their influence...
Walmart Is Trying to Block Workers' Disability Benefits Mother Jones ...If the Supreme Court rules in the retail giant's favor, it will be easier for companies to deny workers benefits...
Detroit emergency manager pressed on pension cuts at bankruptcy trial Reuters ...Detroit's unions called witnesses on Monday to testify that the city does not belong in bankruptcy including representatives of a union and retirees who said a negotiated settlement of the city's debts had been possible before it filed for bankruptcy in mid-July...
Hudson firm bids $11.7 million for Empire Die Casting in Macedonia, Ohio Nordonia Hills News-Leader ...The investment firm New Growth Capital Group has signed a letter of intent to purchase Macedonia's Empire Die Casting, an East Highland Road metal parts manufacturer, for $11.7 million. Approximately 170 workers there are represented by Cleveland-based Teamsters Local 416...
Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul Hope To Tack Right-To-Work Law Onto Employment Non-Discrimination Act Huffington Post ...Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have proposed an amendment to a workplace discrimination bill in the hopes of creating a national right-to-work law...
Apple creates 2,000 jobs shifting production back to US The Guardian ...The California technology titan is beginning to shift production back to its home market, with the creation of its second US plant in under a year. It is understood the renewable energy powered facility in Mesa, Arizona, will produce laboratory grown sapphire crystals of the kind used in the iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner...
A Daily Reminder That Thousands Die In Preventable Workplace Deaths Every Year Economic Policy Institute ...the Cal-OSHA Reporter News Digest ... is filled with grim stories of workers mangled by machinery, suffocated by corn in a silo, killed in falls or struck by a careless driver as they worked on the highway, or sometimes, killed in ways so horrible that it beggars the imagination...
Ripping Off College Students Economic Future Angry Bear ...Student Debt has quadrupled from 2003 to 2013 going from ~$240 billion to > $1,000,000,000. Up from 41% in 1989, 66% of all students now have an average debt of ~$27,000...
FAA Orders Additional Pilot Training Washington Post ...Almost four years after an upstate New York commuter plane crash killed 50 people, the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday imposed stricter training requirements for commercial airline pilots...
First Wall Street Criminal Confession in a Generation...Still No One in Jail The Real News ... Bill Black: SAC Capital Advisors pleads guilty to insider trading, but owner Steven Cohen has yet to face criminal prosecution...
Illinois unions hold strong despite blows to labor Associated Press ...Across the middle of the country, organized labor has taken one hit after another in places that were once union strongholds: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana, where workers lost bargaining power and saw their ranks shrink, leaving them weaker than almost any time in the past century. The notable exception is Illinois...
NLRB Moves Forward on Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against T-Mobile US cwa-union.org ...The National Labor Relations Board's Acting General Counsel announced that the U.S. government would prosecute T-Mobile US for violating U.S. labor law by illegally firing two workers at a Wichita, Kansas call center because of their union activity...
How Republicans Have Trashed The Economy, In 1 Chart Huffington Post ...The next time a Republican tells you government spending is out of control, this chart is all you need to prove otherwise...
America's Greatest Shame: Child Poverty Rises and Food Stamps Cut While Billionaires Boom AlterNet ...Since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, the percentage of poor children has climbed by 4.5 percent, while the income of the top 1 percent has risen by 34%.Why do we put up with such injustices?...
Half Of The World's Richest People Come From Just 2 Families Huffington Post ...Seven of the 12 richest people in the world have names ending in Koch, Walton or Adelson, according to a new calculation by Bloomberg Markets magazine. Of course, extreme wealth gives you a lot of political power. Here's how these folks wield their influence...
Walmart Is Trying to Block Workers' Disability Benefits Mother Jones ...If the Supreme Court rules in the retail giant's favor, it will be easier for companies to deny workers benefits...
Detroit emergency manager pressed on pension cuts at bankruptcy trial Reuters ...Detroit's unions called witnesses on Monday to testify that the city does not belong in bankruptcy including representatives of a union and retirees who said a negotiated settlement of the city's debts had been possible before it filed for bankruptcy in mid-July...
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.31.13
Teamsters Hold First Meeting Of D.C. Taxi Operators Association teamster.org ...Hundreds of taxicab drivers in the nation’s capital attended the first meeting of the new Washington, D.C., Taxi Operators Association Tuesday in overwhelming support for a strong affiliation with the Teamsters as the city imposes major, costly industry changes affecting their livelihoods...
DC Cabbies to Be Represented by Teamsters WUSA9 News ...A big vote in Northeast DC has forever changed the political landscape for DC cab drivers. See the video...
DC Taxi Drivers Organize DC Labor ...DC taxi drivers chanted "We will win! We will win!" at yesterday's first meeting of the Washington DC Taxi Operators Association, which formalized its affiliation with Teamsters Local Union 922...
Teamsters members reject Wegmans contract Democrat and Chronicle ...For the second time during this round of contract talks, Wegmans' Rochester-based distribution and transportation employees have rejected the contract proposal that was agreed to by Wegmans and Teamsters Local 118...
Arbitrator rules on Teamsters Local 320 and Wadena County (Minnesota) contract issues Wadena Pioneer Journal ...Nearly 11 months after the county’s new labor agreements went into effect on Jan. 1, arbitrator Stephen F. Befort delivered his decisions on the unresolved issues between the county and its unit of 19 essential public safety employees represented by Teamsters Local 320...
City delays budget vote after Teamsters delay contract vote ABC 57 News ...The vote happens Tuesday and Wednesday and will affect about 250 city employees who are members of Teamsters Local 364...
YRC Worldwide, Teamsters Set to Meet in Dallas Journal of Commerce ...YRC Worldwide, fresh from a terminal network restructuring and change in leadership at $3.2 billion less-than-truckload carrier YRC Freight, will meet with the Teamsters union early next month to discuss the company’s future...
County, Teamster Union agree to 4-year contract Albany Democrat-Herald ...Linn County in Oregon has reached a four-year wage and benefits contract with Teamster Local Union No. 670, which represents about 42 of the county’s 600 employees...
Corporations Take, Take, Take While Workers Pay The Bill (opinion) teamster.org ...What do mega-corporations like communications giant Verizon and big pharma drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb have in common, besides their billions in earnings? They both paid an effective tax rate of zero percent over the past year...
ABF Update: Central Region Local Cartage Teamsters Overwhelmingly Decline To Authorize A Strike At ABF teamster.org ...In a vote with 77 percent turnout, a majority of the membership covered by the Central Region Local Cartage Supplement has overwhelmingly (70% to 30%) chosen not to authorize a strike at ABF...
Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters start contract talks The Post-Standard ...Negotiations will start next month on a new labor contract that could determine the future for the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery near Baldwinsville, New York...
Is Funeral Home Chain SCI's Growth Coming at the Expense of Mourners? Bloomberg ...For traditional funerals, SCI charges $6,256 on average (excluding casket and cemetery plot), 42 percent more than independents...
Union-Made Halloween Treats unionplus.org ...When those little ghosts and goblins come collecting on Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-in-America treats for them like Jelly Belly's candy corn. Find out about other goodies that are made by union workers...
Today's College Grads Won't Be Able to Retire Until They're 73 Bethlehem Patch ...Student loan debt likely will force today's college grads to work longer...
Stop The Social Security Stupidity: A Q&A With Bernie Sanders Talking Points Memo ...The Koch brothers, Pete Peterson and other billionaires are spending huge amounts of money trying to cut Social Security and other vitally important federal programs. As part of this campaign, an enormous amount of misinformation is floating around...
America’s new hunger crisis MSNBC ...“When 50 million people in the richest country on the planet are hungry, that’s a crisis...”
US budget deficit down to $680B, lowest in 5 years Associated Press ...For the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion...
U.S. trade official pushes Congress to renew trade promotion authority Reuters ...The Obama administration's top trade official said on Tuesday that the United States is aiming to finalize a giant trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations by the end of year, but that it needs Congress to approve a rule to speed up the talks...
Brazil protests: Sao Paulo bus station attacked BBC News ...Friday's protests began with a march through the city that lasted about three hours. Violence erupted when a section of the crowd broke off and attacked a bus terminal in the city centre, police said...
Census: More Ohioans living in poverty than since before the 'Great Recession' Associated Press ...A U.S. Census report shows there are more Ohioans living in poverty than before the Great Recession. The numbers show one in six Ohioans was living in poverty last year. The state's poverty rate increased from 13.1 percent in 2007 to 16.3 percent in 2012...
GOP GOVERNOR: 'There Seems To Be A War On The Poor' With Republicans In Washington Business Insider ...Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) criticized members of his party in Washington in an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, saying there "seems to be a war on the poor."...
Lower middle-class workers get trampled Indianapolis Star ...Consumer confidence has plunged for lower middle-class Americans in recent years...
Alabama Blogger Arrested, Jailed For Writing About Former Governor’s Son ThinkProgress ...this sort of order is what is known as a prior restraint on First Amendment expression and is almost certainly unconstitutional...
Detroit Will be Democracy's Decisive Battle Black Agenda Report ...Detroit is the battleground chosen by Wall Street to crush the last vestiges of American democracy by creating “the template for direct corporate rule.”...
DC Cabbies to Be Represented by Teamsters WUSA9 News ...A big vote in Northeast DC has forever changed the political landscape for DC cab drivers. See the video...
DC Taxi Drivers Organize DC Labor ...DC taxi drivers chanted "We will win! We will win!" at yesterday's first meeting of the Washington DC Taxi Operators Association, which formalized its affiliation with Teamsters Local Union 922...
Teamsters members reject Wegmans contract Democrat and Chronicle ...For the second time during this round of contract talks, Wegmans' Rochester-based distribution and transportation employees have rejected the contract proposal that was agreed to by Wegmans and Teamsters Local 118...
Arbitrator rules on Teamsters Local 320 and Wadena County (Minnesota) contract issues Wadena Pioneer Journal ...Nearly 11 months after the county’s new labor agreements went into effect on Jan. 1, arbitrator Stephen F. Befort delivered his decisions on the unresolved issues between the county and its unit of 19 essential public safety employees represented by Teamsters Local 320...
City delays budget vote after Teamsters delay contract vote ABC 57 News ...The vote happens Tuesday and Wednesday and will affect about 250 city employees who are members of Teamsters Local 364...
YRC Worldwide, Teamsters Set to Meet in Dallas Journal of Commerce ...YRC Worldwide, fresh from a terminal network restructuring and change in leadership at $3.2 billion less-than-truckload carrier YRC Freight, will meet with the Teamsters union early next month to discuss the company’s future...
County, Teamster Union agree to 4-year contract Albany Democrat-Herald ...Linn County in Oregon has reached a four-year wage and benefits contract with Teamster Local Union No. 670, which represents about 42 of the county’s 600 employees...
Corporations Take, Take, Take While Workers Pay The Bill (opinion) teamster.org ...What do mega-corporations like communications giant Verizon and big pharma drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb have in common, besides their billions in earnings? They both paid an effective tax rate of zero percent over the past year...
ABF Update: Central Region Local Cartage Teamsters Overwhelmingly Decline To Authorize A Strike At ABF teamster.org ...In a vote with 77 percent turnout, a majority of the membership covered by the Central Region Local Cartage Supplement has overwhelmingly (70% to 30%) chosen not to authorize a strike at ABF...
Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters start contract talks The Post-Standard ...Negotiations will start next month on a new labor contract that could determine the future for the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery near Baldwinsville, New York...
Is Funeral Home Chain SCI's Growth Coming at the Expense of Mourners? Bloomberg ...For traditional funerals, SCI charges $6,256 on average (excluding casket and cemetery plot), 42 percent more than independents...
Union-Made Halloween Treats unionplus.org ...When those little ghosts and goblins come collecting on Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-in-America treats for them like Jelly Belly's candy corn. Find out about other goodies that are made by union workers...
Today's College Grads Won't Be Able to Retire Until They're 73 Bethlehem Patch ...Student loan debt likely will force today's college grads to work longer...
Stop The Social Security Stupidity: A Q&A With Bernie Sanders Talking Points Memo ...The Koch brothers, Pete Peterson and other billionaires are spending huge amounts of money trying to cut Social Security and other vitally important federal programs. As part of this campaign, an enormous amount of misinformation is floating around...
America’s new hunger crisis MSNBC ...“When 50 million people in the richest country on the planet are hungry, that’s a crisis...”
US budget deficit down to $680B, lowest in 5 years Associated Press ...For the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion...
U.S. trade official pushes Congress to renew trade promotion authority Reuters ...The Obama administration's top trade official said on Tuesday that the United States is aiming to finalize a giant trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations by the end of year, but that it needs Congress to approve a rule to speed up the talks...
Brazil protests: Sao Paulo bus station attacked BBC News ...Friday's protests began with a march through the city that lasted about three hours. Violence erupted when a section of the crowd broke off and attacked a bus terminal in the city centre, police said...
Census: More Ohioans living in poverty than since before the 'Great Recession' Associated Press ...A U.S. Census report shows there are more Ohioans living in poverty than before the Great Recession. The numbers show one in six Ohioans was living in poverty last year. The state's poverty rate increased from 13.1 percent in 2007 to 16.3 percent in 2012...
GOP GOVERNOR: 'There Seems To Be A War On The Poor' With Republicans In Washington Business Insider ...Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) criticized members of his party in Washington in an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, saying there "seems to be a war on the poor."...
Lower middle-class workers get trampled Indianapolis Star ...Consumer confidence has plunged for lower middle-class Americans in recent years...
Alabama Blogger Arrested, Jailed For Writing About Former Governor’s Son ThinkProgress ...this sort of order is what is known as a prior restraint on First Amendment expression and is almost certainly unconstitutional...
Detroit Will be Democracy's Decisive Battle Black Agenda Report ...Detroit is the battleground chosen by Wall Street to crush the last vestiges of American democracy by creating “the template for direct corporate rule.”...
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