Today's Teamster News 01.18.13

As manufacturing bounces back from recession, unions are left behind Washington Post  ...American factories are hiring again, but they’re not hiring union members...
Relief as Greece secures IMF cash  Guardian  ...The IMF agreed to pay the next tranche of bailout aid to the Greek government last night, averting a catastrophic default and securing the country's survival in the eurozone...
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley to pay $557M over shoddy foreclosure practice The Hill ...Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will pay a combined $557 million to mortgage borrowers over shoddy foreclosure practices...
What The Consumer Protection Bureau's New Mortgage Rules Will And Won't Do  Think Progress ...The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rolled out new rules today to clean up the mortgage servicing industry...The new rules will provide important protections for homeowners, no longer leaving them subject to the most pernicious mortgage servicing practices...
Public option for health care back on the table  People's World ...A group of Democratic lawmakers moved quickly yesterday and filed a bill that would give the people of the nation the right to choose a publicly run health insurance plan...
Unions look ahead on fight over right-to-work  AP  ...Union leaders looking for an olive branch from Gov. Rick Snyder in his third State of the State address say he left them empty-handed, but they vow to keep fighting to bring down right-to-work legislation enacted last month...
New York City School Bus Strike Enters 3rd Day AP  ...Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union wants the new contracts to include job protections for current drivers...
Teamsters say there’s progress in UPS talks  The Press-Enterprise   ...In talks with UPS’ Freight division, Teamsters have been making progress on seniority and work week issues. For the UPS negotiations, they have come to some understandings on issues that include military leave and stewards’ rights...
Teamsters Denounce Florida High Court Ruling on Pension IBT ...Teamsters Joint Council 75 President Ken Wood today said he is disappointed that Florida’s Supreme Court overturned years of precedent in the way the state’s pensions are funded…
Will Dorchester Two School Bus Drivers Strike?  Summerville Patch …Charleston school bus drivers who work for Durham School Services have voted unanimously to authorize a strike if negotiations will not move forward, according to a statement by Teamsters Local 509...

Hundreds protest RTW4Less in Mich.

Hundreds of working people in Michigan protested last night against Gov. Rick Snyder as he delivered his State of the State address. Working Michigan tells us:

Workers gathered before Governor Snyder's State of the State address. After signing the Right to Work for less money legislation, the governor said "you can all go home now." Workers sent a clear message: We're not going anywhere. We will continue to stand up against Gov. Snyder and the Republican legislature's attacks on working families.

You can see plenty of photos on their Facebook page here.

Michigan Live reported,

... groups from the United Auto Workers and "We Are Michigan" were at the entrances of the Capitol with recycled images from a "Walk of Shame" protest last week. Protesters held pictures of legislators who voted for RFW and had "shame" written across the portrait. 

“This is an issue that hasn’t gone away," said Mike Severino, a nurse at Sparrow Hospital. "All options are still on the table.” 

Severino, who said he is a Republican and worked for his party's Senate caucus for ten years, said he is not expecting to hear anything from Snyder that addresses his concerns. 

"We've heard a lot of stuff from the governor and his actions have spoken louder than his words," Severino said...

The protest comes after large demonstrations in December as the legislature voted on Right to Work legislation. Protesters came to the Capitol last week as legislators were sworn in for the 2013-14 term. 

Thousands to march on Mich. Capitol Tuesday in RTW4Less protest

Thousands of our union brothers and sisters are feverishly making plans for Tuesday's rally against right-to-work-for-less in Lansing, Mich. Word is spreading across the country. No one doubts the gravity of this historic fight for workers' rights.

Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign the right-to-work-for-less bill into law after it was railroaded through the Legislature Friday. Many avenues, legal and political, are being explored to repel this attack on workers. The protest will tell the world we are furious that billionaires can buy our political system. It's our way of educating the public, of saying, 'This law will turn the Midwest into Canada's Mexico."

WILX reports state troopers are being mobilized from all over Michigan for Tuesday's protest, and a hundred troopers will guard the Capitol round-the-clock until then.

Organizers are planning a march from 8 a.m. and several hundred people are prepared to get arrested. Teamsters 18-wheelers are being readied for the trip. Staging areas are being reserved and marshals are being recruited to help protesters.

Union members and retirees from the Teamsters, AFL-CIO, UAW and others have been phone banking all day today, calling everyone they know with the message: "Come to Lansing on Tuesday."

We're starting to get a sense of who's coming.

Many, many brothers and sisters from Michigan will be at the rally. They'll be joined by people who can get off work from other states. AFT Local 795 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is trying to put together a delegation. Teamster Local 200 President Tom Bennett will be there from Milwaukee, as will Brother Shawn Ellis, the IBT training coordinator for the Central Region. Ironworker Randy Bryce plans to bring a busload of solidarity from Wisconsin. Teamsters from Local 407 in Cleveland will make the trip. We expect union members from Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, from as far as New York and Minnesota.

For every person who posted a comment on Facebook that they'd be there, 10 said they wished they could make it but have to work, don't have the money, live too far away or can't drive.

Advice on what to wear and what to expect is being dispensed.

Michael Huerta posted this on the March to Rally at the Michigan State Capitol Building Facebook page:

...bring thick well padded gloves (not for the cold outside but for the protection they offer your hands while clapping the rail), bring a bottle or 2 of water, bring throat lozenges, your phone charger, if you are going to go inside the capital dress in layers (it gets hot when your screaming for 12 straight hours!), bring granola bars or some food with you that wont spoil if we are there for a while, dont be confrontational with the police (they are union brothers and sisters and trust me, they know they are next!), bring a means to document what you see for all those unable to attend (you will be their eyes and ears), thank the people that travelled long distances to be there, talk with the people around you (you will be amazed by the great stories that are there with you!) and finally remember what you see! we are the carriers of the torch and there may come a day when people look back on 12-11-12 as historic.

MatthewVanLiere, president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Michigan, asked protesters not to single out public safety officers. He posted on the Protect Working Families Facebook page,

I am a police officer and ... representing EVERY Deputy in this great state. I, nor any one of us, are (anti-union billionaire Dick) DeVos goons. We DO NOT support this. We do not support right to work in anyway. We must all stand together. Public and private unions have rights. Please do not single out public safety because someone's blood money spoke louder than someone else's. Michigan MUST remain a Unionized state! If you want to change things, know who and what you are voting for. We must ALL stand united!

Well said, brothers.

Today's Teamster News 03.16.12

The richest get richer  Reuters   ...The 1934 economic rebound was widely shared, with strong income gains for the vast majority, the bottom 90 percent. In 2010, we saw the opposite as the vast majority lost ground...
This Is Your Defense of Goldman Sachs and Wall Street? (analysis)  firedoglake   ...This Bloomberg editorial suggests it is incredibly stupid to ever expect a Wall Street company to actually try to provide you with the service that you pay them for...
Michigan Working Families Push for Constitutional Amendment to Protect Their Rights  crooks and liars   ...Michigan's working families, fed up with an assault that has more than 80 bills currently before the legislature that would strip their rights, will soon start collecting signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would protect those rights from legislative overreach...
Indiana company denies Daniels' claim it is adding jobs because of new right-to-work law  Associated Press   ...The lone company being held out as an example of how Indiana's right-to-work law is bringing more business to the state says the new labor law had nothing to do with its decision to expand its Indiana operations...
Voter ID becomes law in Pennsylvania, opponents vow legal fight  Reuters   ...Opponents, who say the measure seeks to suppress voter turnout, vowed to challenge it in court. Pennsylvania joined several Republican-governed states, including Texas, Kansas and Wisconsin, that have adopted stricter voter identification laws, arguing they were needed to prevent ballot box fraud...
Teamsters continue to picket American Red Cross blood drives  The News-Herald   ...Members of the Teamsters Local 507 union picketed an American Red Cross blood drive Thursday at Edison Elementary school as part of the now month-long strike for a new contract...

Goodish news from NH: RTW4less passes, but not by a veto-proof margin

Call it a muted victory. The New Hampshire House of Representatives today voted to approve right to work for less (we also like the designation "right to freeload"). It will likely pass the state Senate. Then Gov. John Lynch will veto it. Then the House won't have enough votes to override his veto.

Then in November, Granite Staters will flock to the polls and vote out all those anti-worker lawmakers who care nothing about creating jobs while attacking the middle class. (We can dream, can't we?)

After this morning's vote, New Hampshire labor leaders issued a statement blasting the island-paradise dwelling House Speaker, Bill O'Brien:

After the New Hampshire House failed to get enough votes to pass a repeat of right-to-work by veto-proof margins, New Hampshire’s labor leaders lambasted Speaker O’Brien for pushing an extreme, unnecessary right-wing agenda over the real needs of Granite Staters for the second year in a row. The vote count (198-139) was essentially unchanged from last year.

A little too close for comfort.

Today's Teamster News 03.14.12

Trucking Sector Gains Momentum -- YRC Worldwide and Arkansas Best Looking Strong  Marketwatch   ..."Our emphasis on core LTL services has resulted in significant increases in on-time service and our customers are responding very favorably," said James Welch, chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide...
Feds Promise Action On Wall Street Speculation Blamed For High Gasoline Prices  nasdaq.com   ...Bart Chilton, commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission, wrote independent Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont that he has drafted regulations to curtail "excessive speculative trading," which would go into effect within 60 days of announcement...
Snyder signs bill to bar U-M union  Detroit Free Press   ...Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Tuesday that bars the unionization of graduate assistants at Michigan's public universities, a move prompted by an attempt to form a union by grad assistants at the University of Michigan...
Scott Walker: Economic Failure for Wisconsin  United Wisconsin   ...Data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that Wisconsin lost 12,500 jobs in 2011. This statistic puts Wisconsin dead last in job creation in the country...
'Right to work' battle pitched in Minnesota  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...More than 1,000 sign-wielding union workers and supporters poured into the Capitol on Monday, urging legislators to reject a proposed "right to work" constitutional amendment that is turning Minnesota into the latest Midwestern flashpoint in what has become a grinding clash between powerful unions and groups trying to break their grip on workplaces...
Revamped right-to-work bill returns to NH House among host of collective bargaining bills  Associated Press   ...The sponsor, Republican Rep. Will Smith, believes new additions repealing public unions' exclusive bargaining rights will bolster support...
Erie, Teamsters trade counterproposals in contract talks  Erie Times-News   ...Union members voted to grant strike authorization in January... 

Teamsters bring WI to MN: 'Large, loud, defiant'

Today at the Minneapolis State Capitol.

Today a Minnesota state Senate committee hears a large, loud and defiant crowd condemned Right to Work for Less. The committee is hearing a proposal to put a Right to Work for Less constitutional amendment on the November ballot as throngs of workers outside the committee room chant "Kill the Bill."

Teamsters, union members, families and supporters flocked to St. Paul this morning to fight the latest attack on working families.

Our brothers and sisters at Local 320 sent some tweets and some photos:

Three #mnleg rooms overflowing with #mnunion workers ready to fight #RTW4less #teamsters #ibt320 http://t.co/1CYQdN95

MN #Teamsters are at #mnleg ready to defend the rights of #mnunion workers http://t.co/GGsdB4Zf #fb

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports,

"Just vote no!" and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, attacks on workers have to go!" echoed through the Capitol corridors Monday morning as an estimated 1,000 members and friends of labor unions chanted their disdain for a proposed constitutional amendment to ban labor contracts that require all workers employed under the terms of the contract to pay a share of union costs -- also known as "right to work."

The crowd was large, loud and defiant enough to evoke memories of last year's labor demonstrations in Madison, Wis., as Republicans led by Gov. Scott Walker enacted restrictions on public employee union bargaining rights. "Right to work" is understood by organized labor as union-busting, arguably more damaging to the union cause than Wisconsin's restictions on public employee collective bargaining. "Right to work" undercuts both public- and private-sector unions.

...the fact that scores of Minnesotans made a pre-dawn drive from Winona, Mankato, Duluth and beyond to stand and shout outside a Capitol hearing room tells me that for them, this is no game.

Live in Minnesota and couldn't make it to the Capitol? Here's a suggestion from the tweetosphere:

Call your Senator & tell them not to support the #RightToWork which puts our communities at risk: (651) 296-0504

Today's Teamster News 03.09.12

Labor negotiations between LePage administration, union going to trial  Bangor Daily News   ...Ayotte ultimately ruled that the LePage administration must stand trial before the board on charges that it negotiated in bad faith and interfered with the rights of MSEA workers...
Right-to-work schism dominates GOP amendment debate  Politics in Minnesota   ...talks on right-to-work have stalled as internal GOP discussions of constitutional amendments in the House and Senate have heated up...
Federal judge tosses NJ unions' pensions suit  CBS News   ...A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit brought by New Jersey teachers, police officers, firefighters and public workers challenging a law that requires them to pay more for their pensions and health benefits ... an appeal will be filed...
Union-buster joins Wisconsin recall fight  Salon   ...The Wisconsin recall ad wars have a new player: the Center for Union Facts, the well-heeled union-bashing outfit founded by food and beverage super-lobbyist Rick Berman.  A CUF source says the self-described “union watchdog” is spending “just over a million dollars” in Wisconsin, and “may do more in the coming weeks.”...
Banks foreclosing on US churches in record numbers  Reuters   ...The surge in church foreclosures represents a new wave of distressed property seizures triggered by the 2008 financial crash, analysts say, with many banks no longer willing to grant struggling religious organizations forbearance.Since 2010, 270 churches have been sold after defaulting on their loans...
GOP Loses Big Voter Suppression Case In Federal Court  Alternet   ...A federal court has rejected an appeal from the Republican National Committee to modify a 30-year-old legal agreement that prevented it from engaging in one of the most offensive forms of voter suppression: targeting minority voters whose credentials were to be challenged once they enter polling places...
GAO: Almost Half of Bailed Banks Repaid the Government With Money "From Other Federal Programs"  naked capitalism   ...Our banking system is still reliant on the government for support...

Today's Teamster News 03.08.12

Ga. Senate OKs bill banning some mass picketing  Associated Press   ...Senate Bill 469 bans mass picketing at private residences or at the site of labor disputes when such protests are blocking or threatening business entrances or certain public areas. People found guilty could be subject to a fine of $1,000 per day of the violation. Any union or organization assisting such efforts could be subject to a fine of $10,000 per day...
NH House postpones right-to-work vote  Associated Press   ...The House moved the vote on a controversial bill on union membership to next week because of legislative courtesy to missing key opponents...
Mark Wahlberg 'Teamsters' reality pilot coming to A&E  zap2it   ...Hometown hero Mark Wahlberg, star of "The Departed" and "The Fighter," has a new reality pilot in the works for A&E tentatively titled, "Teamsters," reports the network...
March on Capitol set for Saturday, one year after volatile bill was passed  The Cap Times   ...The bill that severely limited collective bargaining rights of public unions passed late in the night on March 9, so the AFL-CIO is ready to "reclaim" Wisconsin with a march and rally on March 10...
Pa. Senate passes voter ID bill  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The state Senate, along nearly partisan lines, passed a bill Wednesday that would make Pennsylvania the 16th state to require its residents to show photo identification at the polls...
Houston’s County Joins Texas Suit Seeking $10 Billion From MERS, Banks  Bloomberg News   ...The counties accuse MERS, which runs an electronic registry of mortgages, and members of the mortgage banking industry including Bank of America of filing false lien claims in the real property records of Texas counties. The suit also alleges the defendants failed “to record subsequent assignments of mortgage loans and pay the attendant filing fees.”...

Today's Teamster News 03.02.12

Group submits petition to repeal Michigan's emergency manager law  Detroit Free Press   ...If a state elections panel verifies that 161,305 of the signatures are those of registered voters, the controversial statute enacted last year would be suspended until the vote...
GOP weighs cost of union battle  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...Passage by voters would make Minnesota the 24th state in the nation to allow employees who opt out of unions to avoid paying dues or fees. But a full debate could lead to the kinds of protests and energized union voters that have made Wisconsin ground zero for labor activism...
Georgia bill to limit picketing sparks protest  Atlanta Journal Constitution   ...Senate Bill 469 would fine individuals $1,000 a day -- and organizations as much as $10,000 as day -- if they ignore court orders to stop their protests...
Making the United States More Like Greece  The Baseline Scenario   ... One of the big problems in Greece over the past decade or so is that the people running the country decided to conceal the true nature of their budget and their debt. This deception ended up costing the country dearly – completely undermining its credibility under pressure and making it much harder to turn the fiscal and economic situation around. House Republicans are now proposing something similar for the United States...
Silicon Valley Homeless Feel The Grip Of Recession's Long Reach  Huffington Post   ...The first time Michele arrived at the Maple Street homeless shelter three years ago, she was still driving her BMW 325xi, the final remnant of her Silicon Valley affluence...
Probation officers alarmed by policy reversal on oversight of offenders Miami Herald ...Christina Bullins, a Teamsters Union member who is also a probation supervisor in Miami, said fewer field visits make it less likely that an officer will discover a technical violation of probation that could prevent more serious crimes later...

Today's Teamster News 01.07.12

Unemployment 8.5% for December 2011 - 200,000 Jobs  Economic Populist   ...this report shows a gain of 50,000 jobs in transportation and warehousing. 42,000 of those jobs is with courier services, i.e. UPS and Fed-Ex. We know online shoppin' has really taken off, but lets hope those delivery and shipping jobs reported permanent really are...
Occupy Geriatrics: Seniors in Walkers Shut Down Local Bank of America  SF Weekly   ...the protesters said they had no intention (or oxygen) of storming the bank, as occupiers in other communities have done, officials at Bank of America shut the doors and locked them as they spotted the slow-moving group make its way to the front of the bank...
30 Statistics That Show the Middle Class Is Dying in Front of Our Eyes  Business Insider   ...#27 In 1970, 65 percent of all Americans lived in "middle class neighborhoods". By 2007, only 44 percent of all Americans lived in "middle class neighborhoods"...
US economic data sees ‘reversion to mean’ (opinion)  FT Alphaville   ...The labour market is looking healthier and the housing market might well hit a bottom this year (finally) (please). But neither do we think that the string of expectations-beating economic indicators point to a spiky new trajectory for growth...
"Right to Work" hearings in Evansville, Gary & Fort Wayne this weekend  Indiana AFL-CIO   ...This public forum to educate people on what Right to Work is as well as to hold a discussion on how the public feels about the Legislation...
Bill to allow Floridians the right to a citizens’ veto filed today in Tallahassee   Florida Independent   ...State Rep. Richard Steinberg, D-Miami Beach, and state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, today filed a bill that would “authorize and establish requirements for a citizens’ veto referendum.”...

Today's Teamster News 01.06.12

Corporate Profits Have Rebounded To Pre-Recession Levels, But Corporate Tax Revenue Hasn’t  ThinkProgress   ...Corporate tax revenue has plummeted for several reasons, but one of the big ones is the growth of deductions, loopholes, and outright tax evasion that helps companies limit, or entirely eliminate, their income tax liability. 30 major corporations, in fact, paid no corporate income tax over the last three years, while making $160 billion in profits...
Need jobs? Call on government (opinion)  Los Angeles Times   ...International experience shows that direct job creation by governments is one of the very few options that has succeeded at raising employment levels more than just marginally during a crisis...
Bank charge of the day, mortgage-payment edition  Reuters   ...Citi is getting a big advantage from you making half your mortgage payment two weeks early — and then it has the chutzpah to charge you hundreds of dollars for the privilege. They even charge you $1.50 per extra transaction, as though that costs them any money at all. (It doesn’t.)...
SCOTUS expected to weight Montana campaign finance appeal  Politico   ...Campaign finance experts predict that the court will almost certainly address the ruling, since it’s seen as a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision that allowed corporations, unions and other special interests to use their treasury funds to make or fund political ads that support or oppose political candidates...
Airline Safety Soars  paulkedrosky.com   ...According to new data, 2011 was the safest year in global commercial aviation history...
Democrats bemoan rush on labor bill  Indianapolis Star   ...This morning's joint House- Senate committee may be the only chance the public has to weigh in on the controversial legislation targeting labor contracts that for the second year has forced a legislative standoff...
Former aide to Scott Walker arrested with two others  Politico   ...Three people, including a former aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, were arrested Thursday as part of a secret criminal probe that found two of the men stole funds intended for wounded vets and families of U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Teamster Strike Halts Pipeline Projects  Youngstown Business Journal   ...a strike by more than 700 pipeline construction workers has already halted work on projects related to the Marcellus shale play in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and could lead to stoppages across the country...

Ruh-roh: NH House passes RTW for government workers

What is this, open season on working people?

Oh wait, that's exactly what it is.

Today, New Hampshire House members were the latest to try to shrink the middle class by passing a right-to-work for less bill that applies to government workers. The Associated Press reports,

New Hampshire's House has voted to bar the unions representing state workers from collecting fees from non-union members to cover the bargaining and other costs.

The House voted 212-128 Thursday to send the bill to the Senate. Workers who choose not to pay a fee would have to submit a notarized statement relinquishing any rights and benefits bargained for by the union...

The AP also reports island paradise dweller House Speaker William O'Brien made right-to-work for less "a priority of his administration." (Um, hello? Since when does a legislator have an administration?)

The good news is we think Gov. John Lynch will veto  this nasty piece of legislation -- and the good guys have the votes to sustain his veto.

Still, you wonder why these lawmakers can't chase after wascally wabbits instead of working men and women.

Today's Teamster News 01.02.12

The Obligatory Economic Predictions for 2012  Economic Populist   ...We have nothing coming down the pike to give us that push to strong growth. Not a manufacturing policy, a hire Americans policy, an increase wages policy, a confrontation of bad trade deals agenda...
The $18 Trillion Threat Of The Unregulated Shadow Banking System  Forbes   ...When you add together the assets in hedge funds, ETFs, money market mutual funds, sovereign wealth funds and family investment offices(think Soros) the total amount of assets that are subject to oversight and regulation appears to be $18 trillion, down from $25 trillion before the 2008 meltdown...
Fewer young, but more elderly, have driver’s license  The University Record   ...“It is possible that the availability of virtual contact through electronic means reduces the need for actual contact among young people,” says Michael Sivak, research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI)...
And the “winner” of the worst footnote of 2011 is…  footnoted.com   ...Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and its former CEO, Léo Apotheker ... managed to get paid very handsomely for failing so spectacularly. Exactly how much Apotheker made ... is subject to a bit of interpretation... Various estimates we’ve seen pin it at somewhere between $25 million and $33 million... during Apotheker’s 11-month stint, HP stock declined by more than 40%...
US says Egypt agrees to stop raids on democracy groups  BBC   ...the US reacted sharply to the move, condemning it as an attack on democratic values and hinting that it could review the $1.3bn (£0.84bn) in annual US military aid to Cairo if such incidents continued...
Right-to-work legislation likely to dominate session  Post-Tribune   ...Debate on whether Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state will likely dominate the Indiana General Assembly session that starts Wednesday...

Today's Teamster News 12.30.11

Darker Nights as Some Cities Turn Off the Lights  New York Times   ...Cities around the nation, grappling with what is expected to be a fifth consecutive year of declining revenues and having exhausted the predictable budget trims, are increasingly considering something that would once have been untouchable: the lights...
Egypt Raids Offices of Nonprofits, 3 Backed by U.S.  New York Times   ...The raids are the latest and most forceful effort yet by the country’s ruling generals to crack down on perceived sources of criticism amid rising calls from Egyptian politicians and protesters and some Western leaders for the military to hand over power to a civilian government...
An Uproar on the Web Over $2 Fee by Verizon  New York Times   ...The $2 monthly fee, which takes effect Jan. 15, will apply to people who make one-time credit or debit card payments on the phone or online...
Tournament of Roses to Occupiers: You Can't March in Our Parade  CNS News   ...Although the group is not part of the parade, its Web site OccupytheRoseParade.org says, “Float #44/#99 will be our float with visual displays including a 250 foot ‘We the People’ U.S. Constitution, a 50 foot ‘We The Corporations’ version, a giant ‘Goldie Sachs’ Wheel of Fortune exhibit, a Wall Street ‘Occupy The Octopus’ (Occupy The Vampire Squid) representing Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citibank...
Indiana State Sen. Jim Tomes (R) Comes Out Against Mitch Daniels' Right-to-Work Agenda  Crooks and Liars   ...an Indiana Republican is challenging the governor's anti-union agenda. State Sen. Jim Tomes broke ranks with his party and penned a letter to the Evansville Courier & Press telling the truth about the law and the Republican agenda...
Violence at Merced County Jail prompts call for action  KFSN   ...Merced County (Teamsters) correctional officers say understaffing at the Merced County jail is putting officers and the public's safety at risk. Now they're asking for a special hearing on the issue...
Teamsters mechanics at United Airlines OK contract, pave way for deal with Continental workers  Associated Press   ...The union said the deal with United includes wage increases, continued health care benefits and improved job-security protection. Workers also got an $11,500 signing bonus and regained items that were lost when United went through a bankruptcy reorganization in the last decade...

Today's Teamster News 12.28.11

Homeowner wins $21MILLION payout from mortgage firm in dispute over credit rating  Daily Mail   ...U.S. Army sergeant David Brash has won more than $21million in damages from PHH Mortgage after it falsely claimed he defaulted on his loan...
House prices fell to new post-bubble lows in October  Calculated Risk   ...these indexes will hit new lows in the next few months since prices are falling again...
Jed S. Rakoff: Federal District Judge Of New York's Southern District (The Inspirationals)  Huffington Post   ...it is a measure of how timid our politics have become that this federal judge is widely viewed as the only man in government with the cojones to take on the banking corporations that nearly destroyed the American economy in 2008 and that seem, for the most part, unrepentant...
LETTER: Poverty rises in right-to-work states  The Republic   ...seven of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rate are right-to-work states...
Four inmates escape cell, stab man, officials say  Merced Sun-Star   ...Several Norteño gang members broke free of their cell and attacked an inmate worker Monday night at the Merced County Jail, officials said, an ordeal that some think is a result of lowered staffing at the jail...
Oscar Makers in Chicago Ratify New Contract  Local 743   ...Fifty Teamsters with R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first new contract in four years. The three-year agreement includes the workers' first new wage increases since 2006...

Today's Teamster News 12.20.11

AT&T Is Paying the Biggest Breakup Fee Ever  Wall Street Journal   ...AT&T will be paying ex-merger partner T-Mobile USA $4 billion in cash and assets for walking away from their proposed $39 billion marriage...
Spain grits teeth yet again as austerity deepens  The Telegraph   ...The conservative leader pledged to fight Spain's unemployment curse by shaking up the labour markets. The jobless rate has hit 22.8pc with 5.4m people out of work. The tally is certain to rise further as the economy falls back into recession...
Homeless kids in U.S. number 1.6 million: study  Agence France-Presse   ...Of the children affected, 42 percent were under the age of six, and a third of them were living with single mothers with chronic illnesses, the study found...
Occupy Atlanta Helps Save Iraq War Veteran's Home From Foreclosure  Huffington Post   ...Activists began occupying Brigitte Walker's home on Dec. 6. By the end of that first week, JPMorgan Chase, which owns her mortgage, began discussing with the activists and Walker the possibility of a loan modification. Chase's modification offer became official Monday morning...
Right to Work Reality Check: Debunking Jim Buck  Indiana State AFL-CIO   ...Buck claimed that there were a number of companies that refused to locate to Indiana because of a lack of such a law. However, when pressed for examples, he could not name a single company and offered to provide "a list" later...
In Madison, 1,000 Singers Defy Walker’s Edict  The Progressive   ...Despite Gov. Scott Walker’s edict that no more than three people can gather inside the capitol for a demonstration without a permit, about 1,000 people joined the Solidarity Sing-along at noon on Monday...
Utica school district, Teamsters reach agreement  Observer-Dispatch   ...The Utica City School District and the union that represents the janitors, cleaners and maintenance workers have agreed on a new contract...that trades a 2 percent raise...

Koch-funded, union-busting group pushing RTW in IN

Pants on fire.

Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long claims his push for right-to-work for less isn't about union busting. He's lying.

Look who's behind the bill: the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. The Koch brothers fund the American Legislative Exchange Council (along with other anti-union groups). Reports State Impact, a joint project with NPR,

ALEC is working closely with Indiana legislators interested in drafting and backing controversial right-to-work bills.

The story, "Meet the Influencers," explains how ALEC is behind much of the Republicans' radical agenda in Indiana:

The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is not a lobbying firm, but it has quite a bit of influence at the capitol. It’s an organization that brings together right-leaning businesses and legislators from statehouses all over the country. They meet at a series of annual conferences to, among other things, hammer out model bills to be introduced into state legislatures...

Many ALEC members are lawmakers. Indiana House Education Committee Chair Robert Behning’s resumé boasts of having held leadership positions within the group. And several organizations reported on Indiana State Superintendent Tony Bennett’s keynote address at a ALEC convention in Phoenix, AZ earlier this year. At the same conference, Indiana State Representative Dave Frizzell was appointed national chairman of the organization. The Evansville Courier Journal has a specific list of other Indiana legislators either working on or leading ALEC task forces.

State Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, meanwhile, chairs ALEC’s tax and fiscal policy committee. State Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, chairs its energy, environment and agriculture committee.

In all, nine of the 150 members of the Indiana General Assembly attended the summit. About 20 more Indiana Republican legislators are members of ALEC but did not attend.

Read the whole thing here.

The "summit" was held at a luxurious resort, and we'd be quite interested to know how many Hoosier lawmakers paid the full boat for the trip out of their own pockets.

The Koch brothers have been trying to dismantle unions for years. To suggest that right-to-work for less is about anything else is flat-out wrong.

Today's Teamster News 12.16.11

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income  USA Today   ...The latest census data depict a middle class that is shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families...
The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water  BBC   A father of four....says he finds it cheaper to buy drums of water from a petrol station and pay a sanitation company about $14 a month to remove waste from his "porta-potty" than pay the combined sewer and water rate bill, which some months can reach $300....Investment bank JP Morgan Securities and two of its former directors have been fined for offering bribes to Jefferson County workers and politicians to win business financing the sewer upgrade...
How To Indefinitely Detain Jamie Dimon  emptywheel   ...making that case with Jamie Dimon is very easy to do, because his company, JP Morgan Chase, has materially helped Iran...
Report: States Spend Billions on Economic Development Subsidies that Don’t Require Job Creation or Decent Wages  Good Jobs First   ...“If subsidies do not result in real public benefits, they are no better than corporate giveaways,” said Good Jobs First Research Director Philip Mattera, principal author of the report. “States should be using these programs to reduce unemployment and raise living standards, not simply to increase corporate profits...”
Ball State poll: Half of Hoosiers undecided on right-to-work  IBJ   ...“The availability of cheap labor overseas limits the effectiveness of [right-to-work] policies to attract companies looking for lower labor costs,” wrote four legislators...
Chinese Spring coming up?  The Trader   ...With protests getting louder by the day, we might just get the Chinese Spring coming up soon...

Today's Teamster News 12.12.11

Depression and Democracy (opinion)  New York Times   ...Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited. And democratic values are under siege...
US to leave Mexican border crossing to rangers  Associated Press   ...in this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade...
Economic Crisis + Offshore  Tax Justice Network   ...Many of the roots of the current global economic crisis trace back to offshore financial centres located in tax havens. These include both those located in the smaller, mostly island states like Cayman and Jersey, and the larger tax havens like the City of London, Switzerland, Dublin, Delaware or Luxembourg...
Russia's middle class rises up against Putin  The Independent   ...With state television hardly making reference to the protests, and instead focussing on flag-waving celebrations by groups of pro-Putin youths, active opposition is still very much the preserve of an internet-savvy minority. But in Moscow, the change of mood among the new middle class is palpable...
Sometimes a fight just isn't worth it (opinion)  South Bend Tribune   ...Taking a wrecking ball to organized labor in Indiana, with all of its institutions, traditions and loyal members, will bring deeper political polarization during an already politically divisive time...
Academy has enough Oscar statuettes, despite labor dispute  Los Angeles Times   ...A Chicago labor dispute won't affect February's Oscars ceremony, according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak, because the academy has dozens of statuettes stockpiled...