Today's Teamster News 10.22.13

Chicago Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Awards Scholarships   Teamsters Joint Council 25 … The Chicago Teamsters Hispanic Caucus awarded $6,000 in academic scholarships on Oct. 16 to a dozen Illinois Teamsters and the sons and daughters of active Teamster members...
Chester Upland approves deal with Teamsters  Delaware County Daily Times   ...Chester Upland School District (Pennsylvania) approved a one-month contract extension with the district’s custodial and maintenance employees, who represented by Teamsters Local 312...
BART Strike Has Commuters Facing Gridlock  Associated Press   …San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the new work week on Monday with gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day, while investigators are searching for clues to a train crash that killed two workers...
ILA Halts Strike at Baltimore  Journal of Commerce   ...International Longshoremen’s Association workers agreed Friday to return to work for 90 days while negotiators work on a local contract that triggered a three-day strike at the Port of Baltimore. An arbitrator ruled that ILA Local 333’s walkout over a local contract violated the no-strike clause in the union’s coastwide master contract…
AFL-CIO To Democrats: We'll Work To End Your Career If You Cut Social Security Or Medicare  Huffington Post   ..."We will never forget. We will never forgive. And we will never stop working to end your career..."
McDowell County, USA Has Close to Haiti's Life Expectancy: Welcome to Third World America  Alternet   ...Many Americans, especially in the South, can look forward to dying far younger than their counterparts in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe...
Suicide Rate Climbs by 30 Percent in Kansas as Government Slashes Mental Health Budgets  The Nation   ...the recession may have pushed already troubled people over the edge. Being unable to find a job or settling for one with lower pay or prestige could add “that final weight to a whole chain of events...”
JP Morgan to Pay $13 Billion in Fines, NYT Says, but Still No Criminal Charges Against Top Wall Street Execs  Buzzflash   ...Neither has there been any serious DOJ attempt -- as BuzzFlash has repeatedly written commentaries about over the past few years -- to hold the Wall Street execs criminally accountable for acts of fraud with a devastating financial impact that almost crashed the US economy. Our prisons are filled with burglars, check kiters, income tax evaders and others who are pikers compared to the masters of the universe who run Wall Street...
BofA Said to Face Three More U.S. Probes of Mortgage-Bond Sales  Bloomberg   ...Bank of America Corp., sued by U.S. attorneys in August over an $850 million mortgage bond, faces three additional Justice Department civil probes over mortgage-backed securities, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation...
SEC Files Charges in Magnetar Deal  Pro Publica   ...Magnetar worked with investment banks to build CDOs that the hedge fund also bet against.  Magnetar would buy the riskiest part of the CDO, which gave it influence in picking which bonds would be included in the CDO. In turn, the hedge fund pushed riskier bonds that would make the investment more likely to fail...
Nissan under mounting pressure as United Auto Workers union targets Mississippi plant  Raw Story   ...The United Auto Workers is ratcheting up pressure on Nissan in the hopes it may finally succeed at organizing the Japanese automaker’s plant in the typically anti-union southern US state of Mississippi...
Privatization Benefits the 1%: Public Services Benefit Everyone  Truth-Out   ...Private systems are focused on making profits for a few well-positioned people. Public systems, when sufficiently supported by taxes, work for everyone in a generally equitable manner. The following are six specific reasons why privatization simply doesn't work...
How Taxpayers Get Punished by Private Prison “Lockup Quotas"   Demos   ...In the Public Interest (ITPI) recently released a shocking study on the alarming frequency of state private prison contracts that contain “occupancy quotas” that guarantee for-profit prison companies a steady stream of revenue even if prison populations decline...
More U.S. students borrowing for college  CBS News   ...The number of U.S. students who borrow money for college continues to climb, while the number of graduates who are paying off these loans is slipping...
Smithfield Foods Acquisition: A Lot of Bacon for China  Journal of Commerce   ...Chinese consumers soon could be in line for a lot more U.S. pork in mainland grocery stores. Shareholders in Smithfield Foods voted Sept. 24 to approve the company’s $4.7 billion purchase by Shuanghui International Holdings, the largest acquisition of a U.S. company by a Chinese business...
How dare you filthy peasants know…  Fire Dog Lake   ...Pretty much, oh 99 percent, of the country knows that the pay ratio of corporate CEOs to their workers is obscene. But to the CEOs the real obscenity is that people know just how obscene...
Secret probe spreads to five Wisconsin counties  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Sources familiar with the probe told the Journal Sentinel that it was scrutinizing a wide variety of state-related issues, including the recall races. Sources suggested the probe is looking at a current legislative leader and the governor's contest...
Judge holds employment commissioners in contempt in Act 10 ruling  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Monday's ruling by Circuit Judge Juan Colás will give teachers and local government workers the ability to immediately enter labor negotiations with their bosses; likely result in the cancellation of union recertification elections set for November; and grant official state recognition of a Kenosha teachers union that had been decertified...
Pennsylvania inmates on work detail declared public workers  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   ...A jail inmate on a work detail can be considered a public employee, Commonwealth Court has ruled in a decision that could open the door to liability against a government entity for injuries that may stem from such work assignments...

Romney tells Colorado workers to lose their ‘boondoggle’ jobs

Mitt Romney is all for tax credits to boost windfall profits, but not wind-energy production and the thousands of jobs it provides. Earlier in the week, his campaign confirmed that if elected he would allow a tax credit for wind-energy companies to expire.

So it was a little awkward Thursday when Mitt stopped for a visit in Colorado, a state where up to 5,000 people are employed in wind industry jobs. Romney breezed through the meaningless rigmarole of another stump speech peppered with lame jokes and followed by routine applause and handshakes.

But a lot of Coloradoans aren’t interested in going through the motions with Mitt. Phillip Bump at the Grist wrote:

Some of the people in Colorado don’t want to clap for Romney. They don’t want to shake his hand. Why are they being so rude? Because Mitt Romney doesn’t care if they lose their jobs.

Romney’s visit came just days after his campaign said he was against extending the wind-energy production tax credit, which three of the four Republican congressmen in Colorado support.

According to the Denver Post:

Conservative U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman, Cory Gardner and Scott Tipton have joined Democrats in Colorado’s congressional delegation in urging Congress to extend the credit, saying in a joint letter earlier this year that allowing it to expire this year could cause Colorado to lose “thousands” of jobs.

So what is Romney’s reasoning for opposing the tax credit for wind-energy jobs? Well, those jobs are apparently unnecessary. His campaign spokesperson in Iowa explained:

He will allow the wind credit to expire, end the stimulus boondoggles, and create a level playing field on which all sources of energy can compete on their merits.

Subsidies for fossil fuels are currently six times greater than subsidies for wind energy, so we’re not really sure what Romney thinks a “level playing field” is.

But here’s the point: Mitt Romney says he knows how to create jobs, but as far as we can tell he just doesn’t want to. He’s more interested in telling people their work is a “boondoggle” and they should be fired.

-- Union Thug

Today's Teamster News 06.03.12

China’s renmimbi is depreciating, not appreciating  Trade Reform   ...China’s currency undervaluation is 25-40%.  That is a 25-40% price advantage when selling to the U.S. and competing with domestic firms here… courtesy of the Communist Party of China...
Analysis: Greeks count mental health cost of a country in crisis  Reuters   ... Behind every suicide in crisis-stricken countries such as Greece there are up to 20 more people desperate enough to have tried to end their own lives. And behind those attempted suicides, experts say there are thousands of hidden cases of mental illness, like depression, alcohol abuse and anxiety disorder, that never make the news, but have large and potentially long-lasting human costs...
World’s Richest Lose $24 Billion As Adelson Fortune Drops  Bloomberg   ...The world’s richest people lost a combined $24.4 billion this week as concerns over Spain’s rising borrowing costs and the sputtering American job market caused global markets to tumble. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson lost $2.2 billion...
Mitt Romney’s big green flop  Boston Herald   ...A Bay State solar panel developer that landed a state loan from Mitt Romney when he was Massachusetts governor has gone belly up — a day after the GOP presidential hopeful ripped President Obama’s green-energy investments...
An autocratic King Scott damaged state (opinion)  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...In these waning hours before Tuesday's recall election, Wisconsin's undecided voters must feel like the last pork chop on the Green Bay Packers' training table. The undecideds - all eight of them - could make a difference in a tight race...
Motion to suppress future evidence in John Doe investigation filed  WTAQ.com   ...An attorney for one of Governor Scott Walker’s former aides has filed a motion to suppress evidence gathered in the John Doe investigation...
CP workers back on the job  Northern Life   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said its members are not happy with the federal government's move to force them back to work, but are advising the 4,800 union members to obey the law and report to work...

Today's Teamster News 03.24.12

Randy Hopper Found Not Guilty Of DUI Charge, After Union-Conspiracy Defense  Talking Points Memo   ...Former Wisconsin state Sen. Randy Hopper (R) was found not guilty by a jury Friday on a charge of drunk-driving, after mounting a court defense that his arrest in October was the product of a conspiracy by the public employee union members who had successfully worked to recall him from office earlier last summer...
Plain Talk: Indiana’s pro-union ‘Lunchpail Republicans’ bear watching  The Cap Times   ...“A Lunchpail Republican believes in the rights to speak freely and bear arms, supports labor and business, and insists that the government should not interfere with the day-to-day operations of private-sector organizations,” he added. “We should not have to choose between our party, our union and our guns.”...
Italian truckers' strike seen crippling car deliveries  Reuters   ...A bitter Italian truckers' strike is seen cutting car deliveries by 40 percent in March, adding to the pain on the country's hard-pressed auto sector, carmakers said, with top producer Fiat planning to halt production at two plants next week...
Companies Pick Up Used Packaging, and Recycling’s Cost  New York Times   ...A growing number of large food and beverage companies in the United States are assuming the costs of recycling their packaging after consumers are finished with it, a responsibility long imposed on packaged goods companies in Europe and more recently in parts of Asia, Latin America and Canada...
JPMorgan Sued by Trader Over $3 Million Decimal Point  Bloomberg News   ...JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) is being sued by a trader who says he accepted a contract from the investment bank because a typographical error made him believe he would be paid 10 times what was actually offered...
270,000 More IT Jobs Headed Offshore  Information Week   ...Mounting political pressure will do little to stop the flow of technology and other jobs moving offshore to low-cost destinations like India and China, new research indicates. Some 750,000 jobs in IT, finance, and other business services will be offshored from the U.S. and Western Europe to developing nations between now and 2016, according to a study released this week by the Hackett Group...

Today's Teamster News 03.17.12

Ex-CBO Staffer’s Warnings About Foreclosures Ignored  firedoglake   ...Dr. Lan Pham, a former senior staffer financial economist for the Congressional Budget Office, was fired from the organization for her attempts to quantify the economic implications of foreclosures and foreclosure fraud ... The release of this information should cause grave concern as to the legitimacy of CBO reports, and highlight the conspiracy of silence about foreclosure fraud issues, which official Washington simply does not want to deal with...
When Do Humans Want to Share the Wealth?  Angry Bear   ...If there’s a problem with the ultra-rich, it’s not that they have too much wealth, it’s that they bought laws that made it easy for them to gain and keep so much more wealth in recent decades...
Complaint filed against Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser in choking case  Appleton Post Crescent   ...Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser violated the court's ethics code when he allegedly choked a rival justice (Ann Walsh Bradley) and should be disciplined, according to a complaint the state Judicial Commission filed with the high court Friday ... Tensions ... reached a head last June as the court dealt with a legal challenge to Republican Gov. Scott Walker's law that took away union powers from most public workers...
Saturday rally at Gold Dome to fight against Ga. anti-protest bill  GA Voice   ...In essence, SB 469 is an anti-union bill that wants to make it, among other things, illegal for a bunch of people protest at, say, a CEO's house or a bank or another public building. Saturday, March 17, 40 groups are gathering at the state Capitol from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. to send a message that the right to protest is not something to be denied...
James Murdoch gives up another directorship  The Guardian   ...Rupert Murdoch's youngest son was a Sotheby's director for two years. His move follows demands for Murdoch's resignation from some Sotheby's shareholders in the wake of the phone hacking scandal...
Teamsters Local 580 Issues Intent to Strike Notice  WLNS   ...The American Red Cross Great Lakes Blood Services Region received notices of intent to strike by staff members represented by Teamsters Local 580. This is the fourth time they've received a notification like this in the past two years and it would be the third time Teamsters Local 580 has gone on strike... 
AC Transit Chooses Teamster Employer to Manufacture Buses  Joint Council 7   ...The Alameda-Contra Costa (AC) Transit District Board of Directors has voted to purchase its buses from Gillig, LLC, a local company that employs 450 Teamster members who produce heavy-duty transit buses...

Today's Teamster News 03.11.12

IN lawmakers end RTW dominated session  Associated Press   ...Indiana lawmakers came roaring into their 2012 session with a battle over right-to-work legislation. Now they are leaving quietly with a new statewide smoking ban, more money for state fair victims, changes to the state's education system and rules giving homeowners the right to forcibly keep police from entering their homes...(No jobs bill?)
Madison, Wis.: Protests mark year since Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law  Associated Press   ...Thousands of demonstrators descended on the Wisconsin Capitol on Saturday to voice their anger at Gov. Scott Walker, using the anniversary of the passage of his collective bargaining law to rally support for efforts to remove him and five other Republicans from office. About 35,000 people, including many members of public employee unions who lost nearly all their collective bargaining rights under the Republican-backed law, chanted, drummed and waved anti-Walker signs...
Employers Need Wind Power Technicians  slashdot   ...With a wind power rush underway, companies are competing to secure the windiest spots, while breathing life into small towns. The problem is, each turbine requires regular maintenance during its 20-year lifespan, with a requirement of one turbine technician for every 10 turbines on the ground. So even with a job that can pay a good starting salary (for technicians with a GED or high school diploma who complete a four-week turbine maintenance training program), there aren't enough qualified technicians to do the work..
Deficits Push NY Cities and Towns to Desperation  New York Times   ... The problems are spreading as municipalities face a toxic mix of stresses that has been brewing for years, including soaring pension, Medicaid and retiree health care costs. And many have exhausted creative accounting maneuvers and one-time spending cuts or revenue-raisers to bail themselves out...
HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE CASES WHERE FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS OF MORTGAGE LOAN DOCUMENTS ARE ALLEGED  Deadly Clear   ...In an effort to get the Hawaii Attorney General’s focus on the fraudulent documents filed in the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, the Hawaii Senate drafted a Concurrent Resolution in cooperation with the House Representatives...
WV Senate OK’s Buy American Act as a study  The State Journal   ...The bill as the Senate passed it, would require the state purchasing division and Division of Labor to make a joint task force to study the use of American-constructed materials and manufactured goods. The bill would require the task force report back to the Legislature's joint committee on government and finance by Dec. 31, 2012...
Student Loan Debt Hits Home for Bernanke  Wall Street Journal   ...The most interesting anecdote to come out of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke‘s semiannual testimony to Congress: His son, who is in medical school in New York, is likely to rack up $400,000 of student loan debt in the process of getting his degree...

Cantor: Rebuild schools in Iraq, not here

What is this guy thinking? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor doesn't want to rebuild schools in America, though he's okay with U.S. taxpayers paying to rebuild them in Iraq.

Reuters reports,

U.S. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said on Monday he will not support President Barack Obama's proposal to renovate U.S. schools as part of the administration's bill to spur job growth.

"Anything that is akin to the stimulus bill I think is not going to be acceptable to the American people," Cantor said. He added that Obama should focus instead on cutting federal regulations that he says kill U.S. jobs and that any extension in jobless benefits should be tied to reforms in the unemployment program.

ThinkProgress points out the hypocrisy: 

Cantor ... voted for over $120 billion to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, funds that were used to construct and repair schools, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure.

Now, Cantor is opposing President Obama’s proposal to spend $30 billion to modernize 35,000 American schools.

He also wants to cut federal funding for first responders to offset disaster aid. Joan McCarter at DailyKos writes that Cantor must really hate America. 

ThinkProgress has an easy way for you to tell your elected representative to pass President Obama's jobs bill. Just click here.  

Sign a petition here:

Today's Teamster News 08.17.11

Democrats hold seats in Wisconsin recall elections  Reuters   ...Two Wisconsin Democratic state senators beat back Republican challengers on Tuesday in the last of a series of recall elections triggered by a fight over collective bargaining rights for public sector workers...
Monaghan-Derrig wins Maine House seat in Cape Elizabeth  Portland Press-Herald   ...Democrat Kimberly Monaghan-Derrig defeated Republican Nancy Thompson in a special election Tuesday to win the District 121 seat in the Maine House of Representatives...
$2 donation is great, but Issue 2 backers could use more (opinion)  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...The supporters of Issue 2 -- folks who want to defend Senate Bill 5 against unions and others who believe Ohio's collective bargaining reform is bad policy -- are seeking financial help for their campaign...
'Where are the jobs?': Advocacy groups, union members rally outside Tim Walberg's Jackson office  mlive.com   ...Members of advocacy groups and state and national unions rallied in front of U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg’s Jackson office today to ask the congressman to make good on campaign claims that he would help improve the job market...
Rick Scott on WMD's S&P Downgrade: 'It's Good'  Sunshine News   ...Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday defended legislative actions that prompted a leading rating agency to downgrade the credit rating of the South Florida Water Management District, which oversees billions in debt for a host of issues from flood protection to Everglades restoration...
Teamsters, Sierra Club: FMCSA Fails To Protect Environment From Mexican Trucks  IBT   ...the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Sierra Club raised serious concerns with the failure of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to adequately assess the environmental impacts associated with the proposed U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking pilot program...

Today's Teamster News 06.13.11

Sluggish Hiring Seen as a Threat to Recovery  Wall Street Journal    ...The potential for a persistent slowdown in hiring is the biggest threat to the U.S. recovery, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal economic forecasting survey, as they sharply cut the number of jobs they projected the economy would create in coming months...
The Economy and DC  (Opinion)  New York Times   ...The economy needs help, like direct federal job creation and options for homeowners to reduce the principal on troubled loans...
Consumers' electric bills likely to spike as coal plants close  Chicago Tribune    ...As stricter environmental regulations approach, some power generators are choosing to shutter their coal-fired plants...
Wis. Dems Won’t Run Fake GOP Candidates — Will Run Extra Dems Instead  Talking Points Memo   ...The Dems are now going to plant their own extra Democratic candidates -- now dubbed "placeholder" candidates by the Dems -- in order to delay all the targeted recalls to August...
Rally continues push against SB5  WDTN   ...Dozens gathered at the John Bryan Center in Greene County Sunday to show their support for its repeal as a part of the Yellow Springs group from Stand Up for Ohio...
Scott's jobs claims cue eye-rolling  Orlando Sentinel   ... A $1 million incentive deal to entice Montreal-based Garda World Security Services to bring its U.S. headquarters to Boca Raton and create 100 jobs there over the next two years was first reported back in January and voted on by officials in Palm Beach County in February...

Capitalism is failing the middle class, say capitalists

We're painfully aware that the U.S. economy is generating too few good jobs and that people are mad as hell about it. What's surprising is that influential bastions of the Establishment are starting to agree with us.

The latest surprise came from the Council on Foreign Relations, an august group that has as its members high-ranking government officials, world business leaders and prominent media figures. Last month, the CFR published a working paper called "The Evolving Structure of the American Economy and the Employment Challenge" (just the kind of snoozer headline you'd expect from such an august group).

Here's the CFR's take on all that Ayn Rand crap about market outcomes, especially efficient ones, always making everyone better off in the long run: 

That seems clearly incorrect and is supported by neither theory nor experience. It is true, as in the United States, that many goods and services are less expensive than they would be if the economy were walled off from the global economy, and that the benefits of lower prices are widespread. But these cost savings do not necessarily compensate for diminished employment opportunities, and it would be presumptuous in the extreme for policymakers to tell voters what their values and preferences should be. People might trade cheaper goods for assurances that a wide range of productive and rewarding employment options would be available, now and in the future, for themselves and their children and grandchildren, even if the cost of goods they consumer were to rise.

Reuters economics editor Chrystia Freeland agrees with us that it's pretty damn interesting who this is coming from (a winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics is a co-author). She characterizes their conclusions this way:

Globalization and the technology revolution are increasing productivity and prosperity. But those rewards are unevenly shared – they are going to the people at the top in the United States, and enriching emerging economies over all. But the American middle class is losing out.

And, she says, this is unsurprising to most people. BUT,

...the analysis and its impeccable provenance matter, because this basic truth about how the world economy is working today is being ignored by most of the politicians in the United States and denied by many of its leading business people.

The Council on Foreign Relations isn't the only influential bastion of the Establishment that's growing alarmed about what capitalism is doing to people. Just last week, the World Bank put out a report saying that unemployment "was overwhelmingly the most important factor cited for recruitment into gangs and rebel movements." World Bank President Robert Zoellick said,

If we are to break the cycles of violence and lessen the stresses that drive them, countries must develop more legitimate, accountable and capable national institutions that provide for citizen security, justice and jobs. 

Think about it: this guy was George W. Bush's U.S. Trade Representative and a managing director at giant vampire squid Goldman Sachs before he ran the World Bank.

Just as amazing, the International Monetary Fund came out with a paper in February saying workers need more collective bargaining power. That's a big turnaround for the IMF, kind of like Fred Smith inviting the Teamsters to come organize FedEx workers. According to the U.K. Telegraph on Feb. 1,

The IMF has published a paper entitled Inequality, Leverage and Crisis arguing that the extreme gap between rich and poor – with echoes of the US in the late 1920s – was an underlying cause of the Great Recession from 2008-2009.

The paper, by the Fund's modelling unit, warned of "disastrous consequences" for the world economy unless workers regain their "bargaining power" against rentiers. It suggests radical changes to the tax system and debt relief for workers.

 If only they'd listened to us all along.

Today's Teamster News 02.16.11

NH House passes right-to-work law  Nashua Telegraph   ...The 221-131 vote sends the controversial bill (HB 474) to the state Senate without the two-thirds super majority that would be needed to overcome a potential veto from Gov. John Lynch, who strongly opposes it...
Hearing on Wis. union plan finally ends  Associated Press   ...Republican House member Robin Vos finally ended the hearing at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. Democrats said they would continue to listen to workers who still wanted to speak...
Mo. Senate Panel Advances 'Right To Work' Bill  Associated Press   ...A Missouri Senate panel has advanced legislation that would prevent people from having to pay union fees as a condition of employment...
Crowd Overflows At Ohio Statehouse In Opposition To Senate Bill 5  nbc4i.com   ...State employees, public college and university workers could lose their right to collectively bargain under SB 5...
Union protests at Ind. Statehouse on GOP proposals  Associated Press   ...The future of the bill drawing the strongest ire of the union members remained uncertain as a Republican committee chairman said a decision had not been made on whether so-called right-to-work legislation would be considered this session...
Dayton proposes raising taxes on top 5% of Minnesotans to help fix budget  Pioneer Press   ...Gov. Mark Dayton wants to solve nearly half of Minnesota's budget problem by taxing the rich, a strategy that he said keeps a campaign promise but Republican legislative leaders called a job killer...
Job Went Overseas? Tough Luck, Says Congress  ABC News  ...Congress Fails to Extend Aid for Workers Displaced by Foreign Competition Over Sleeping Bag Deal...
Workers to State Legislators: Stop ‘Sweetheart’ Enterprise Zone Deals (Joint Council 7)  BeyondChron.com   ...members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, visited every state legislator with a small box of chocolates that said “Stop the Sweetheart Enterprise Zones...”
Teamsters Endorse Perdue for West Virginia Governor  IBT   ...Local 175 Teamsters have voted unanimously to endorse State Treasurer John Perdue for West Virginia governor, the first major endorsement in the upcoming special election...
Southwest Airlines And Teamster-Represented Stock Clerks Announce New Tentative Agreement  IBT   ...Southwest Airlines and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airlines Division, representing the carrier's stock clerks, announced today that the two parties have reached a tentative agreement for a new, five-year contract...

Today's Teamster News 01.30.11

Unions, state battle over worker pay  The News Tribune   ...workers are most likely to see less cash in their paychecks, more unpaid furloughs and bigger out-of-pocket payments for health care premiums and care...
Public Employee Unions: Public Enemy No. 1?  Wall Street Journal   ...public workers are going to feel voters’ anger in their paychecks — and many will lose their jobs. They’re also likely to come under attack politically to an unprecedented degree...
Retirement funds: All state workers will pay for fixes  Columbus Disptach   ...Teachers, law-enforcement officers, state workers and other Ohio public employees must give up more than $16 billion to fix their financially beleaguered pension funds...
Legislators hear appeals for increases, not cuts, in government services  Las Vegas Review-Journal   ...Nevada is experiencing 14.5 percent unemployment, record bankruptcies and a housing foreclosure crisis...
New England Lawmakers Gain Ally for Rail Project  Associated Press   ...A key Republican congressman voiced strong support Friday for the region's high-speed rail aspirations...
Iowa wind energy industry expected to see slow recovery  Eastern Iowa Business   ...Reduced demand for electricity, cheaper natural gas prices, tighter lending in the aftermath of the financial crisis and lack of a federal renewable energy standard slashed the amount of newly-installed U.S. wind turbines in 2010...
A Bank Crisis Whodunit, With Laughs and Tears  New York Times   ...With too-big-to-fail institutions now larger than ever, we are almost certain to go through another episode like 2008 in the no t-too-distant future...
Claims the job market will boom are entirely unsubstantiated  naked capitalism   ...Faith in the US gov’t’s ability to create 2.5 million jobs for the next 5 yrs ... is sorely misplaced...
Banks Get Tough With Municipalities  Wall Street Journal   ...As municipal borrowers look to renegotiate bond deals, banks are drawing a tough line in the refinancing talks...
For Governors, Medicaid Looks Ripe for Slashing  truthout   ...governors from both parties are exercising their remaining options in proposing bone-deep cuts to the program during the fourth consecutive year of brutal economic conditions...
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference leaders meet in Ottawa  CNW Group

Solar plant closes in Mass., moves jobs to China

Are we ready to take China's economic threat seriously now?
The Boston Globe today reports that 800 jobs will be lost because a solar plant in Devens, Mass., is closing and moving production to its factory in China.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts gave the company, Evergreen Solar, $58 million in taxpayer subsidies to open the plant two years ago. China's government must have done better. Reports the Globe,

Evergreen itself has a factory in Wuhan, China, built in collaboration with a Chinese company, Jiawei Solarchina Co. Ltd., and with money from a Chinese government investment fund. 

You know that high-speed rail line planned from San Francisco to San Diego that we can barely afford to start? China wants to build it and sell us the trains. Reports McClatchy DC,

The Chinese want in on the state's fledgling high-speed rail project. They're eager to help bankroll and build the system and, eventually, provide the trains to operate on the tracks.

Let's face it, China is going to eat America's lunch unless the U.S. government fosters emerging industries, protects existing ones and invests in our infrastructure. Check out this slide show from Business Insider that illustrates some jaw-dropping facts about China. Here are a few:

• China's economy grew 7 times as fast as America's over the past decade (316% growth vs. 43%);
• China has more pigs than the next 43 pork producing countries combined;
• 
  By 2025, China will build enough skyscrapers to fill TEN New York-sized cities;
• China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED... and uses mobile execution vans for efficiency.

Today's Teamster News 12.13.10

AP Analysis: Economic Stress Fall to 18-Month Low  Associated Press   ...Job gains around the country offset higher foreclosures and helped reduce the nation's economic stress in October...
FedEx, UPS Brace for Shipping Rush  Wall Street Journal   ... UPS...expects full-season volume to be up about 7.5% from last year...
Less Than Truckload Freight Giants In Union Conflict  Handy Shipping Guide   ...Court date loomsfor wage deal disagreement...
Full Wallets, but Using Health Program for Poor  New York Times   ...Last year, more than 1,200 people in New York City officially turned their backs on their husbands and wives to qualify for Medicaid...
'(Expletive) The Rich,' Suspected Arsonist Writes  WCVB-TV ...Cape Cod Officials Suspect Serial Arsonist
The NFL's Philadelphia Eagles Go Green  Time   ...The team ... will be installing 2,500 solar panels, 80 20-ft high wind turbines and a generator that runs on natural gas and biodiesel, making its home park Lincoln Financial Field the first stadium capable of generating all of its own electricity...
Federal Judge to Rule on Health Law's Constitutionality Wall Street Journal   ...A Virginia federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether the Obama administration's health law violates the Constitution...
Financial arms race underway in Washington  Los Angeles Times   ...Posh fundraisers already are in full swing after record spending on midterms...

Today's Teamster News 12.06.10

Foreclosures paperwork miscues piling up  Denver Post   ..."We are not in default and they do not have authorization to sell our house," a frustrated Wendy Diers said...
Amex chief calls for jobs task force  FT.com   ...Ken Chenault, the chief executive of American Express, has called for an alliance of business leaders and politicians to find concrete ways to create millions of jobs in the US and kick-start the anaemic economic recovery...
France Finds Continental Guilty in Crash of Concorde  New York Times   ...A French judge ruled on Monday that Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics were guilty of involuntary homicide for their role in the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde jet that killed 113 people...
Bill to outlaw wage theft is sent to N.Y. Gov. Patterson  New York Daily News   ..."This groundbreaking legislation puts New York at the top of the list in terms of labor protection laws," said Andrew Friedman of Make the Road New York...
Kenny Perdue: Public safety workers deserve a voice (opinion)  Charleston Gazette ...today in many states, firefighters and police officers are still told to be seen, not heard ...
Kasich: Provisions force nurses, others to unionize  Dayton Daily News ...Republican John Kasich said Friday that he would rescind two executive orders signed by Gov. Ted Strickland that authorized home- health care and day-care workers to unionize...

Today's Teamster News 11.18.10

U.S. Inflation Virtually Flat  Wall Street Journal  ...underscoring the weakness in the economy...
China Protests U.S. Green Energy Probe  Wall Street Journal  ...A Chinese trade organization Wednesday said a U.S. government investigation into subsidies China provides for its renewable energy companies was baseless and would hurt China-U.S. cooperation...
Local 25 Stewards Gather for Training in Boston  IBT
Gov.-Elect Cuomo Appoints George Miranda, Greg Floyd To Transition Committees  IBT
CUE-Teamsters Expose Hidden Costs To Employees In UC's Retirement Plan  IBT  ...Lower paid workers shoulder higher share of costs
Important Update on YRCW Change of Operations  IBT   ...several hundred members will be affected...
Midterms Threaten Obama's Rail Plans  New York Times

Today's Teamster News 11/10/10

Incoming Head of House Panel to Drop Change in FedEx Labor Law From FAA Bill BNA Daily Labor Report ...The incoming chairman of the House transportation committee in the next Congress will drop from the panel's long-term Federal Aviation Administration bill a provision passed by the House in 2009 that would make it easier for unions to organize many FedEx Express workers...

International Paper to close Bellevue plant with 76 workers Seattle Times ...International Paper said Tuesday it will permanently close its Bellevue corrugated container plant in the next several weeks. Seventy-six workers will lose their jobs...Plant employees are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Five Jobless Workers Per Opening in September New York Times

China Trade Surplus Rises to 27.1 Billion in October New York Times ...A surge in the Chinese trade surplus, to $27.1 billion in October, set the stage for more political tensions...

China Trade Surplus Rises to 27.1 Billion in October New York Times ...A surge in the Chinese trade surplus, to $27.1 billion in October, set the stage for more political tensions...

In Global Forecast, China Looms Large as Energy User and Maker of Green Power New York Times ...China is poised to be the driving influence behind the development of renewable energy...

Extension Granted in 9/11 Health Suit Wall Street Journal ...A federal judge granted lawyers another extension to try to gather enough support among Ground Zero workers to proceed with an $815 million settlement for their health problems.

Wal-Mart's Time Theft  HuffingtonPost ...232,000 Workers Wait Four Years For Lost Wages...

Today's Teamster News 11/12/10

Teamsters Mechanics at Continental Approve Amended Contract IBT ... the mechanics of Continental Airlines ratified an amended collective bargaining agreement with the airline...

Regulators flawed in foreclosure oversight Washington Post ...Even as the OCC and other federal regulators were failing in recent years to detect flawed foreclosure practices, evidence was building that abuses were widespread...

1.2 million people want a job but aren't looking USA Today ...When the job market improves, many Americans on the sidelines will return to the labor force, holding up the unemployment rate...

9/11 workers face deadline for health settlement Associated Press ...Thousands of laborers, police officers and firefighters suing New York City over their exposure to toxic World Trade Center dust have until Monday to decide whether to join a legal settlement...

Cost of Green Power Makes Projects Tougher Sell New York Times ...a growing number of projects are being canceled or delayed because governments are unwilling to add even small amounts to consumers’ electricity bills. ..

Today's Teamster News 11/03/10

G.O.P. Captures House, but not Senate New York Times ...discontented voters, frustrated about the nation's continuing economic woes, turned sharply against President Obama...

In 2009 the White House Underestimated the Economic Devastation, in 2010 Democrats Paid the Price Huffington Post ...Democrats...better do something about the economic devastation...

Secret union ballot measure gains approval CNN ...Four states -- Arizona, Utah, South Carolina and South Dakota -- Voters approved a measure that will guarantee workers the right to vote by secret ballot on whether they want union representation...

More mixed signals for jobs CNN ...companies added more jobs in October, but announced more staff cuts to come...

Solyndra to close a factory, delay expansion New York Times ...Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar panel maker ... will shut down an older plant and lay off workers ...American solar companies ... now face intense price competition from Chinese manufacturers...

Today's Teamster News 10/18/10

China Escalates Fight With U.S. on Energy Aid New York Times ...Zhang Guobao, sharply rebuked the Obama administration for opening an inquiry on Friday into the subsidies...

Republicans, Democrats who criticized stimulus wrote letters seeking funds Washington Post ...They include tea party favorites such as freshman Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), as well as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)...

GOP cash threatens to swamp Dems Politico ...the widening cash flow to Republican challengers is a disturbing development for Democrats who are struggling to stem the incoming GOP tide...

Iowa workers feel pay theft pinch DesMoines Register ...the federal government has investigated an increasing number of wage theft cases in an effort to prevent billions in lost worker pay and tax revenue...

Union-Backed Critic of U.S. Chamber Asks IRS to Probe Political Funding Bloomberg ... the chamber may have misstated financial transactions and given improper compensation to Chamber President Thomas Donohue...