VIDEO: NYC carriage drivers thank public for support

For two years, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has tried to outlaw the beloved Central Park horse carriages that have become part of the fabric of the nation's largest city. And for two years, he has failed.

In fact, he has gone as far to admit he doesn't have the votes to get it done. That is simply amazing, given how much of a priority he made putting 300 horse-carriage drivers out of work once taking office. But it a testament to the resolve of those workers and Teamsters Local 553 who have stood side-by-side to stall the effort.

That said, the success of keeping New York City's iconic carriages going couldn't have been accomplished without the public and advocates like The New York Daily News. The drivers and the union are aware of that, so they made the video above to thank supporters, city residents and others from around the world for rallying to their side.

Today's Teamster News 04.06.15

Teamsters
Anti-Union Allegiant CEO Lives His Worst Dream: Teamster Pilots  Forbes   ...In January, pilots voted 465-8 to authorize a strike. Now, the union is moving on two fronts to use the threat of a strike to improve working conditions. Pilots were prepared to strike on April 2, but on April 1 a U.S. district court judge in Las Vegas issued a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 10...
Horse Carriage Foes Spend $14k on Subway Ads  City & State   ...Demos Demopoulos, executive officer of the Teamsters Local 553 union that represents about 120 horse carriage drivers, said his group is also lobbying the Council. Demopoulos claimed a majority is opposed to the bill and noted that polling has shown that public opinion is on the side of drivers...
Detroit residents unite to honor Viola Liuzzo  USA Today   ...The committee, supported by the Greening of Detroit, has received financial commitments totaling $300,000 from the UAW-Ford and the Teamsters, among others, and two fundraisers are planned for upcoming days. (Anthony Liuzzo Sr., who died in 1978, was a Teamsters official.)...
NYCHA worker may have been killed by faulty trash machine  NY Daily News   ...An investigation by Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers, has since found evidence that contradicts the NYPD theory and suggests maintenance failures may have contributed to Jackson’s death...

Global Labor & Trade
White House Says Enviros Love This Trade Pact, But Enviros Say Otherwise  Huffington Post  ...The Obama administration has angered a host of environmentalist organizations with an Internet campaign that suggests green groups broadly support the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, which environmentalists have in fact been fighting for years...
The True Myths on the Trans-Pacific Partnership  CEPR   ...The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are doing everything they can to try to push their case as they prepare for the fast-track vote before Congress this month. They begin by giving us three myths, all of which happen to be accurate depictions of reality...
Strikes proliferate in China as working class awakens  Today Online   ...More than three decades after Beijing began allowing market reforms, China’s 168 million migrant workers are discovering their labour rights through the spread of social media. They are on the forefront of a labour protest movement that is posing a growing and awkward problem for the ruling Communist Party...

State & Living Wage Battles
Right-to-work backers vow continued push  Albuquerque Journal   ...A high-profile push to approve a New Mexico right-to-work law stalled during the recent 60-day legislative session, but the issue appears likely to be back next year — both in the Roundhouse and on the 2016 campaign trail...
State Looking For National Role In Union-Backed Bill   Hartford Courant   ...Connecticut gained widespread attention in recent years as a national leader in Democratic circles by increasing the minimum wage and passing a first-in-the-nation statewide mandate for paid sick days for some service employees...
Nevada Senate approves minimum wage increase bill  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...A Republican-backed bill to overhaul Nevada’s overtime law and increase the minimum wage for some workers was approved Friday by the state Senate on a party-line vote, with Democrats calling the measure a “slap in the face” to the working poor...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Review North Carolina Voting Law  Huffington Post   ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the legality of new Republican-backed voting restrictions in North Carolina that were part of a law opponents argued was aimed at making it harder for voters who tend to favor Democrats to cast ballots...
Kansas Will Limit Welfare Recipients To $25 A Day   Think Progress  ...During debate over the bill state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) pointed out that many recipients need to withdraw hundreds of dollars some days in order to be able to pay rent...
Fast Food Workers: Thanks for the Raise, McDonald’s, But We Said $15 an Hour, Not $10  In These Times   ...The company, fighting to improve its battered image, may not have intended the move to be a joke. But in the end, many workers saw the welcome boost in pay and benefits as largely a fraud perpetrated on the public as well as on fast food workers...
This City Could Become The Next Detroit   Think Progress  ...Starting this week, 25,000 households in Baltimore will suddenly lose their access to water for owing bills of $250 or more, with very little notice given and no public hearings...

U.S. Labor
Be Nervous (But Not Panicked) About The March Jobs Report   FiveThirtyEight   ...Employers added 126,000 jobs last month, breaking a 12-month streak of growth over 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The report was far weaker than most economists expected and represented the slowest pace of growth since the end of 2013. The government also revised down its estimate of January and February hiring by a combined 69,000 jobs...
Michigan Factory Owner Gives Out $6 Million In Thank-You Bonuses  Huffington Post  ...When J.C. Huizenga sold his namesake machinery manufacturing company, he wanted to share the spoils. The Huizenga Group chairman gave out nearly $6 million in bonuses to more than 575 workers in his two Michigan factories. It was his way of thanking the employees for helping grow the company, which now earns about $170 million in annual sales, according to CBS News...
Trade workers set to benefit from Gov. Jerry Brown's project list  Los Angeles Times   ...At his recent groundbreaking for the state's high-speed train, Gov. Jerry Brown paused while extolling the project to laud the union workers who will build it. "You've got to put something in the ground," Brown said, riffing on what drives economic growth. "You've got to get these building trades men and women doing stuff. That's what makes America — what makes the world — go 'round."...
Workers — not employers — are the real wage movers and shakers  (opinion) Washington Post   ...“We’re too big and complicated a system to do anything in reaction to a particular group or something happening,” Karen King, who has the wonderful title of “chief people officer” at McDonald’s, said Wednesday, explaining her company’s decision to raise wages for some of its employees. If you believe that, don’t go near anyone purporting to sell you a bridge, even if it comes with fries on the side...

Today's Teamster News 01.05.15

Teamsters
NYCLASS flyers aim to convince New Yorkers that horse-carriage ban supports Bill de Blasio’s ‘progressive agenda’  New York Daily News   ...“There’s nothing progressive about taking away jobs for 300 families,” said George Miranda, the head of Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Trade
A New Threat Looms on the Horizon: TISA  Economy in Crisis   ...The Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) covers 50 countries and 68.2 percent of world trade in services. The U.S. and the European Union (EU) are the main proponents of the agreement. If enacted, the agreement would severely limit the ability of the U.S. to regulate the financial sector...
War on Workers
Why New Credit Cards May Fall Short on Fraud Control  Wall Street Journal   ...Big U.S. banks are steering clear of an advanced security measure used in credit cards around the world, opting for a system that is more convenient for shoppers but may leave them vulnerable to fraud...
Tax Inversion Remains (Huge)  naked capitalism   ...The recent Treasury measures raised legal obstacles, but the heart of the problem remains unaddressed...
Coca-Cola’s anti-American outsourcing scheme: How Big Soda gets the public to shoulder its costs  Salon   ...“Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola capitalism,” traces the history of Coke’s empire through the company’s reliance on offloading its costs and risks in precisely this way, tapping into public goods like curbside recycling and municipal water systems while eschewing ownership of the resources and infrastructure needed to produce its iconic beverage...
Anti-terror plan to spy on toddlers 'is heavy-handed’  The Telegraph   ...Nursery school staff and registered childminders must report toddlers at risk of becoming terrorists, under counter-terrorism measures proposed by the [British] Government...
U.S. health worker arrives in Nebraska for Ebola evaluation  Reuters   ...An American health care worker possibly exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone arrived at a hospital in Omaha on Sunday for evaluation and any necessary treatment, an official said...
Miscellaneous
Jaguar Demos a Car That Keeps an Eye on Its Driver  Technology Review   ...An Australian company called Seeing Machines is turning sensing inward with technology that focuses on drivers themselves in hopes of reducing distracted and drowsy driving...
Auto Industry Galvanized After Record Recall Year  New York Times   ...More than 60 million vehicles have been recalled in the United States, double the previous annual record in 2004. In all, there have been about 700 recall announcements — an average of two a day — affecting the equivalent of one in five vehicles on the road...
The Future of Getting Arrested  The Atlantic   ...Several cities have recently put in place networks of microphone-based gunshot sensors, and others are likely to adopt similar systems. When a sensor picks up a suspicious noise, a computer program analyzes the sound and, if it resembles gunfire, determines its point of origin to within a few yards...
Princeton graduate, 30, 'who shot dead his $200m hedge fund founder father, 70, in NYC apartment' arrested after he 'went on the run and barricaded himself in his Manhattan home'  Daily Mail   ...A Princeton graduate has been arrested after he allegedly executed his multimillionaire hedge-funder father at the family's Manhattan apartment on Sunday...

Today's Teamster News 08.13.14

Teamster News
Working Families Party opposing Bill de Blasio's proposed horse carriage ban  New York Daily News   ...The influential party staked out its position in a letter to City Council members — a rare instance of a key de Blasio ally opposing him on one of his signature issues... 
Wisconsin Teamsters Endorse Rockwood  Urban Milwaukee   ...Teamsters Joint Council 39 has officially endorsed Chris Rockwood‘s campaign to become the United States Representative to Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District. Teamsters Joint Council 39 comprises all of the local Teamsters Unions in Wisconsin. The endorsement cites Rockwood’s “consistent shared commitment to organized labor, the collective bargaining process and the ongoing fight for worker’s rights.”...
Teamsters Turn Down Contract With Transit Contractor  KRNV   ...Members of Teamsters Union Local 533 voted down a contract offer from MV Transportation, the Texas-based contractor paid to manage the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system...
MA Charter School Association Skeptical Of Teachers Unionizing  Go Local Worcester   ...After the historic decision by the teachers and guidance councilors of the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) to join the Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, many of the major stakeholders were full of comment and emotion...
Doc Teamsters Resoundingly Reject State's Proposal  Local 117   ...Washington State correctional employees, represented by Teamsters Local 117, have voted by an overwhelming margin to reject the State’s Last, Best, and Final proposal for their 2015-2017 collective bargaining agreement...
Trade
TTIP: It's Not About Trade  Atlantic Community   ...The pursuit of free trade is just a cover for the real agenda of the TTIP. The deal is about imposing a regulatory structure to be enforced through an international policing mechanism that likely would not be approved through the normal political processes in each country...
The De-industrialization of America  Paul Craig Roberts   ...Between October 2008 and July 2014 the working age population grew by 13.4 million persons, but the US labor force grew by only 1.1 million. In other words, the unemployment rate among the increase in the working age population during the past six years is 91.8%...
State Battles
With Burke’s win, the three biggest months of Scott Walker’s political career begin  Washington Post   ...Walker, a national conservative star, faces a tough reelection campaign. The general election officially kicked off for him Tuesday with ex-state commerce secretary Mary Burke's easy win in the Democratic primary...
Report: Wage gap growing rapidly in Indy area  Indianapolis Star   ...Wage inequality grew twice as rapidly in the Indianapolis metro area as in the rest of the nation since the recession, according to a new report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The primary culprit: Jobs recovered in the U.S. since 2008 pay $14,000 less on average than the 8.7 million jobs lost since then...
Another Poll Shows Sam Brownback Trails Paul Davis  The Pitch   ...It's difficult to imagine a more troubling campaign year for Gov. Sam Brownback. State finances look more grim with each passing month, two credit rating agencies have downgraded the Kansas bond ratings on the account of the eroding state balance sheet, an FBI probe has targeted one of Brownback's closest associates, and roughly 100 current and former Republican officeholders annoyed with the governor have thrown their support behind Democratic challenger Paul Davis...
Corporate Lobby Sets Its Sights On Your Garbage Man  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded nonprofit that promotes a free-market agenda through state legislatures, has spawned an offshoot to press its case through local governments...
War On Workers
A Main Street Lobby Group Gets Closer To Big Business  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...The National Federation of Independent Business has been linked to a right-leaning organization with corporate backers. Again...
Jimmy John's Accused of 'Systematic Wage Theft'  Huffington Post   ...In their lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, Karolis Kubelskas and Emily Brunner claim that they were forced to regularly work off the clock because of unreasonably low payroll budgets provided to individual Jimmy John's stores, leading to minimum wage and overtime violations...
Crisis stalks Europe again as deflation deepens, Germany stalls  The Telegraph   ...Portugal has crashed into deep deflation and Italy’s inflation rate has fallen to zero as the eurozone flirts with recession, automatically pushing these countries further towards a debt compound spiral...
Japan's economy shrinks after sales tax rise  BBC News   ...Japan's economy contracted by an annualised 6.8% in the second quarter of the year, the biggest fall since 2011 when it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami...
U.S. Bank Profits Near Record Levels  Wall Street Journal   ...U.S. banks posted $40.24 billion in net income during the second quarter, the industry's second-highest profit total in at least 23 years, according to data from research firm SNL Financial. The latest profits are just below the record $40.36 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2013...
Even the Upper Middle Class Struggles to Save Money  Bloomberg   ...Just 45 percent of upper-middle-class households (income from $75,000 to $99,999) saved anything in 2012, according to the Fed study. That means the other 55 percent didn’t save for a house, retirement, or education...
Feds Quietly Stop Reporting Some Hospital Errors  DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog   ...“The federal government this month quietly stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients' bodies or make a host of other life-threatening mistakes,”...
Hopewell highway worker killed in Farmington crash  WHEC Rochester   ...A 56-year-old who works for the Hopewell town highway department was killed in Tuesday afternoon’s crash in Farmington, Ontario County Sheriff’s deputies stated in a release early Tuesday evening...

Today's Teamster News 08.04.14

Teamster News
De Blasio ignores Teamster carriage industry ‘solutions’  Capital New York   ..."The administration has not yet responded to the list of potential solutions for the horse carriage industry workforce,” a Teamster’s representative said...
Trade
WTO Dying a Slow Death  zero hedge   ...As the global agreement collapses amidst the Indian demand to be able to stockpile food for itself and for countries that are developing around the world, the WTO cannot live much longer. It will be dead within a short while...
State Battles
They Can't Say We Didn't Warn Them  Cognitive Dissonance   ...When Scott Walker was running for governor, some of the police and firefighter unions supported him because he was promising to end residency rules, something they want(ed) for a long, long time...
The War on Workers
As U.S. job market strengthens, many don't feel it  Associated Press   ... Income hasn't rebounded. Millions are working part time even though they want full-time jobs. It's taking longer to find work. People are still struggling with mortgage debt. Some feel down about the economy because of their political views. And most people don't feel free to spend as much as they used to...
NTTA Contract Worker Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver  CBSDFW.com   ...A hit-and-run driver slammed into a North Texas Tollway Authority convoy early Monday in Grand Prairie, killing a contract worker...
Why Are Young Adults Living with Their Parents and When Will They Move Out?  The Big Picture   ...Because young adults, especially the older ones, traditionally represent a substantial share of first-time homebuyers, their delayed decision to form a household has contributed to a depressed rate of household formation and housing demand...
Wealth Managers Enlist Spy Tools to Map Portfolios  New York Times   ...Some of the engineers who used to help the Central Intelligence Agency solve problems have moved on to another challenge: determining the value of every conceivable investment in the world...
Miscellaneous
Demographics: Prime Working-Age Population Growing Again  Calculated Risk   ...A slowdown in the US was expected this decade just based on demographics (the housing bust, financial crisis were piled on top of weak demographics).

Today's Teamster News 07.02.14

Teamster News
RTC Bus Driver Contract Extended To July 31  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...A contract extension until July 31 for Washoe County public transit employees was agreed to today by their labor union and MV Transportation, which operates the transit system for the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County...
Labor Board Rules In Favor Of Union  Bennington Banner   ...Nearly a month after a single challenged ballot left the notion of Green Mountain Express bus driver joining the Teamsters Union hanging, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled in the union’s favor...
'Longmire' Crew Member's Death Is Suspected to Be Caused by Too-Long Working Hours  AceShowBiz   ...A crew member of A&E's crime drama series "Longmire" named Gary Tuck, 48, died early morning on Saturday, June 28, in a car accident. Gary's truck rolled over on a highway in an area known as Stanley, N. M. when he was on his way home from the drama's set around 4:30 A.M. Gary was a member of Teamsters Local 492...
NYCLASS Furious That Bill de Blasio Hasn’t Banned Horse Carriages Yet  New York Observer   ...Mr. de Blasio and his advisers have been shying away from banning the Central Park-based carriages, sources say, and are not pressuring the City Council to pass a bill after promising last year the carriages would be history when he took office...
Trade
Plan a Made-in-the-USA July 4th Celebration  manufacture this   ...Display your stars and stripes with a Made in the USA flag (you’d be surprised – not all flags are!)...
State Battles
Private Contractor For Michigan Prisons Repeatedly Failed To Give Inmates Enough Food  Think Progress   ...Less than a year after Michigan shifted responsibility for feeding its prisoners to a private contract with international food services conglomerate Aramark, the state Department of Corrections (DOC) is warning the company that it may yank the contract if chronic food shortages and security violations don’t cease...
The Minimum Wage Will Increase Tomorrow In D.C.  Washington City Paper   ...Beginning tomorrow, the minimum wage will jump to $9.50 per hour from today's $8.25...
California Minimum Wage Rising To $9 Per Hour Tuesday  KCRA   ...California's minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour when a new law takes effect on Tuesday and provides workers with the first such increase since 2008. That amount will increase again to $10 an hour starting on Jan. 1, 2016, under AB10, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law last fall...
Gov. Scott Walker to blame for poor job growth (opinion)  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...The 2011-'12 reductions of 10% in real per student K-12 spending were the fourth-largest in the nation. Cuts in higher education spending, the reduction in the purchasing power of state employees through Act 10 and foregone federal dollars in Walker's rejection of high-speed rail and Medicaid investments all helped dampen aggregate demand in the state (compared to other states) and throw sand in the gears of Wisconsin's job creation machinery...
Dead Last in Jobs in the Midwest  Wisconsin State AFL-CIO   ...You know what doesn’t create jobs?  Rejecting high-speed rail projects, failing to expand Medicaid for the poor, focusing on voter disenfranchisement laws instead of job growth policies, taking money out of local economies with austerity policies such as Act 10, tax cuts for the rich and a lack of accountability and transparency in the WEDC, the jobs agency created by Gov. Walker that has been plagued by scandals...
Whistling Past the Intellectual Graveyard  Econbrowser   ...After three years of an experiment in ALEC-Laffernomics, Kansas lags the US economy significantly...
War On Workers
America Ranks 36th in Feeling Free to Choose What to Do With Your Life  firedoglake   ...many of the first world countries where people are more satisfied with their freedom of choice are the Scandinavian countries with very large social safety nets. Despite the Republican claim that a “government takeover” of health care would destroy our freedom, those countries with far more government involvement in health care feel freer...
Why is Washington still protecting the secret political power of corporations? (opinion)  Guardian   ...Regulators at the SEC could illuminate the future of campaign donations. But they aren't interested in disclosing the truth – even though voters are...
Profiteering on Banker Deaths: Regulator Says Public Has No Right to Details  Wall Street on Parade   ... JPMorgan held $17.9 billion in Bank-Owned Life Insurance (BOLI) assets, a dark corner of the insurance market that allows banks to take out life insurance policies on their workers, secretly pocket the death benefits, and receive generous tax perks subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer...
Miscellaneous
Court Gave NSA Broad Leeway In Surveillance, Documents Show  Washington Post   ...Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information “concerning” all but four countries, according to top-secret documents...
Here Are 4 Lawsuits That Could Inflict More Damage On Unions After Harris V. Quinn  Mother Jones   ...It's possible that one of these cases could do further damage to the labor movement—with the potential to wipe out the precedent set in 1977's Abood v. Detroit Board of Education decision. (In Abood, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of public-employee unions collecting fair-share fees from non-members to pay the costs of collective bargaining.)...

Today's Teamster News 06.14.14

Teamster News
SEPTA Commuter Rail Union on Strike  NBC10   ...Four hundred workers at the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's regional rail system (including Teamsters BLET and IBEW members) went on strike Saturday morning, shutting down 13 train lines that carry commuters to the suburbs and Philadelphia International Airport...
Town Of Clinton Approves 2 Percent Raises For Police, Public Works Unions  NJ.com   ...Elected officials approved this week contracts with the town's public works and police unions, giving members of each 2 percent raises. The new PBA contract calls for that raise each of four years and is retroactive to Jan. 1. The Teamsters contract does the same, but is in effect for five years...
De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds  New York Times   ...His plan to terminate the carriage-horse industry in Central Park remains broadly unpopular, with two-thirds of voters saying he should allow the horses to stay, an opinion that cut across gender, racial and political lines...
Trade
What Do You Think About Trade? The WTO Wants to Hear from You  AFL-CIO Now   ...The World Trade Organization (WTO) is conducting a “public forum”—a short poll with leading questions about what people think about trade and how it affects their lives. While it’s sad that this is what passes for public involvement in trade policy, it is important to let the WTO, a powerful international institution, know what you think...
Council Calls on Japan to Alter Position on Trans Pacific Partnership  ThePigSite   ...The National Pork Producers Council says, unless Japan significantly alters its demands, US agriculture will not be in a position to support the Trans Pacific Partnership, Bruce Cochrane writes...
How Big Pharma (and others) began lobbying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before you ever heard of it  Sunlight Foundation   ...In 2009 ... 28 organizations filed 59 lobbying reports mentioning the (TPP, the) then far-off trade agreement. Almost half of those organizations were pharmaceutical companies or associations...
State Battles
Fighting To Increase The Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour, Wage Action Protest Held In Worcester  MassLive   ...Chanting rhymes the likes of, "Low pay is not okay!" a few dozen advocates for increasing the minimum wage gathered in front of the Tobias Boland Way Walmart for one hour Thursday night in hopes of bringing attention to the issue...
North Carolina is still suing Facebook, wants to pass law banning public from knowing what else it’s doing  Pando   ...legislators in North Carolina — whose $86 billion public pension fund is the 7th largest in America – are proposing to statutorily bar the public from seeing details of the state’s Wall Street transactions for at least a decade. That time frame is significant: according to experts, it would conceal the terms of the investment agreements for longer than the statute of limitations of various securities laws...
AFSCME Helping Chicago Cab Drivers Push For Greater Voice  Chicago Tribune   ...The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is joining up with Chicago cab drivers to try to help give cabbies a stronger voice in negotiating with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to raise fares, lower costs and push for greater regulation of the nascent ride-share industry...
Map: How A $10.10 Minimum Wage Could Affect Workers In Every Congressional District  Washington Post   ...Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would have widely varied impact on the nation’s congressional districts, according to a new report. There is a more than fourfold gap between districts where the impact would be largest and smallest...
War On Workers
Federal regulators cite contractors after worker's death in Amazon warehouse  Fortune   ...Federal regulators have cited five companies for “serious” labor violations after a temp worker died at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey six months ago, according to a statement released on Friday...
Remember the Problems With Mortgage Defaults? They’re Coming Back With Student Loans  New York Times   ...“robo-signing” is making a comeback, this time in student loans. Robo-signing refers to a practice in which bank employees signed blizzards of documents selling mortgages to another investor without properly verifying who actually owned them...
What If Your Ability To Stay In This Country Depended On Your Employer?  The Nation   ...Every year, US companies invite thousands of special guests from abroad into the labor market, and they arrive clutching visas that will provide them short-term jobs in food processing, farmwork and other seasonal sectors...
HowardCenter Workers Speak About Wages, Work Conditions  Burlington Free Press   ...Allison Segar has worked at the HowardCenter for 16 years, and said she is paid less now than she was 17 years ago when she immigrated to America from England...

Today's Teamster News 04.27.14

Teamsters
For de Blasio, Carriage Horse Ban Is No Walk in the Park  New York Times   ...The mayor’s plan to ban horse-drawn carriages, an obscure proposal until Mr. de Blasio embraced it in last year’s mayoral race, has erupted into a cause célèbre, landing on the cover of The New Yorker and dominating local headlines, even as Mr. de Blasio is trying to refocus his administration on housing and wage issues...
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigation of mayoral race includes de Blasio's pledge to ban carriage horses  New York Daily News   ...FBI agents have been questioning people about the pledge de Blasio made in March 2013, and the ads launched the next month by animal rights activists attacking Christine Quinn, the Daily News has learned. Agents also appear interested in a $175,000 contribution to the animal rights group NYCLASS from a union tied to de Blasio's cousin, labor leader John Wilhelm...
Trade
Japan, U.S. tiptoe into new phase of Pacific trade talks  Reuters   ...The United States and Japan are edging into a new phase of trade negotiations after U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's summit, people with knowledge of talks to create one of the world's biggest trade pacts said...
TPP Investment Map: New Privileges for 30,000 Companies?  Public Citizen   ...Under previous presidential administrations, the United States signed a number of free trade agreements (FTAs) that grant foreign corporations extraordinary rights and protections beyond the rights of domestic companies...
War on Workers
U.S. electricity prices may be going up for good  Los Angeles Times   ...Experts warn of a growing fragility as coal-fired plants are shut down, nuclear power is reduced and consumers switch to renewable energy...
91 Percent of Our Seafood is Imported and Only 2 Percent is Inspected  Economy in Crisis   ...The U.S. imports an astonishing 91 percent of our seafood and, unbeknownst to many Americans, much of this seafood is contaminated with antibiotics and toxic chemicals.  We can’t inspect this food for contaminants because we cannot afford the necessary number of FDA inspectors to do the job...
My Life in the New American Minimum Wage Economy  Mother Jones   ...After getting driven out of my job by the State Department, I found myself looking for part-time positions in retail...
Thomas Perez: Jobless benefits are a lifesaver (opinion)  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...With so many people we know facing so much uncertainty, depleting their savings and fearful that their dreams are slipping away, it is unconscionable that Congress has sat on its hands this long...
Scathing Report Finds Rocketship, School Privatization Hurt Poor Kids  truthout   ...A popular chain of charter schools called Rocketship, which originated in California and has spread to Wisconsin, with the enthusiastic support of state legislators and the local chamber of commerce in Milwaukee, is "a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and expensive faculty, that reduces curriculum to a near-exclusive focus on reading and math, and that replaces teachers with online learning and digital applications for a significant portion of the day...
Miscellaneous
Texas Republican Spent Over $30,000 In Campaign Cash On Chocolates And Ham  Buzzfeed   ...Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, the oldest serving member of Congress, spent more than $33,000 in campaign funds on orders from Honey Baked Foods and Godiva Chocolatier, campaign filings show...

Today's Teamster News 04.26.14

Teamster News
Republic Nuclear Dump Fire Threatens Investors, Workers  Huffington Post   ...Since 2010, a landfill fire has been moving toward 8,700 tons of unlined illegally dumped radioactive waste in Bridgeton, Missouri. The site is in the middle of working-class neighborhoods, right next to the Saint Louis airport, and near a hospital, schools and a great number of businesses. The Teamsters believe Bill Gates and other investors in Republic Services, Inc. should take a closer look...
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, Today  Art World   ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent this month by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Mayor de Blasio Laughs Off Idea Central Park Horse-Carriage Drivers Will Be Offered Taxi Cab Medallions  New York Daily News   ...Mayor de Blasio laughed off a report the city is offering tax cab medallions in exchange for their handsome cab licenses. Asked Thursday if a proposal was on the table, de Blasio gave a one word answer: "No."
Trade
Even Without Deal, U.S., Japan Play Up TPP Talks  Wall Street Journal   ...The U.S. and Japan tried to put their best face on their failure to reach a trade deal during President Barack Obama's Tokyo visit, saying major progress was made during nearly round-the-clock talks...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican leaders continue to push for 'right to work' bill  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...The prospects of a second vote on “right to work” remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
Hicks receives warm understanding and support from colleagues and constituents after RTW vote  Missouri Times   ...Hicks initially felt alienated when he took the vote against RTW, but now feels more validated. “When I stood up and voted no, I went against my party for the first time...
The Kochs' Alternative GOP Comes Out Against Columbus Zoo Animals  The Wire   ...Ohio's chapter of American's for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers funded activist zoo group, sent out a mailer opposing a tax increase for the Columbus, Ohio zoo...
Koch Brothers Group Wipes Cliven Bundy Support From Social Media Accounts  Huffington Post   ...Americans for Prosperity Nevada, the state affiliate of the Koch Brothers-backed group, appears to have hastily deleted social media posts expressing support for Cliven Bundy, the renegade rancher who exposed himself as a racist in recent press conferences...
Republican Senator proposes Michigan minimum wage increase to undermine ballot proposal  Michigan Live   ...State Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) on Thursday said he introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage from $7.40 an hour to $8.15 per hour starting Dec. 1, 2014. It also would raise the minimum rate for tipped employees from $2.65 per hour to $2.75 per hour...
Lawmakers advance minimum wage bill  KHON2   ...Lawmakers advanced a bill today to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007...
Murray says minimum-wage agreement will take more time  Seattle Times   ...Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said there’s still a few more weeks before a drop-dead deadline for an accord on a $15 minimum-wage proposal...
War on Workers
Northwestern University Football Players To Vote On Union Amid Debate Over Labor Rights  Washington Post   ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday whether to join a union, part of a labor battle that is drawing intense scrutiny from colleges with major athletic programs, national labor leaders and higher education lobbyists in Washington...
Miscellaneous
Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards And Less Debt  FiveThirtyEight   ...A new poll from Gallup suggests that Americans are less reliant on credit cards than any time since 2001. The survey, which was based on a random sample 1,026 adults, found that 29 percent of Americans do not own any credit cards...
Occupy Amazon: Elizabeth Warren, Thomas Piketty, Michael Lewis Books Surging Online  Huffington Post ...If Amazon's top-sellers list is any indication, Americans are fed up with rising income inequality. As of Thursday evening, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new memoir, A Fighting Chance is the number two best-selling book on Amazon...

Save the New York City horse carriages! Watch the video, sign the petition!

Teamster horse-carriage drivers are getting a reprieve from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who says he won't destroy their jobs (by banning horse carriages) until year end. Let's hope the mayor is adopting the tried-and-true political tactic of hoping something goes away -- that is, pressure from animal rights people.

The animal rights activists don't seem to notice the carriage horses are well cared for and -- according to horse lover Liam Neeson -- happy.

And as Guardian columnist Sadhbh Walshe puts it, the bigger picture is disturbing:

...there seems to be more concern for the rights of working horses than there is for the everyday exploitation and abuse endured by working people.

She interviewed a young man holding a cumbersome advertising sign on the same New York streets deemed so dangerous for horses. He's paid less than minimum wage with no benefits or sick days. Walshe notes that he'd have his own protest movement if he were a horse.

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News is continuing to support our brothers and sisters with sympathetic news coverage and a petition drive. If you haven't yet, you can sign the petition here.

Today's Teamster News 04.20.14

Teamster News
SeaTac airport workers fight exclusion from $15 minimum wage  PBS News Hour   ...Tracey Thompson, Teamsters Local 117: It’s not just the represented workers that matter. It’s the non-represented workers, and women and persons of color are the ones who are suffering most by having such low minimum wage and poverty level wages here...
Animal rights protesters march outside Liam Neeson's home in support of horse ban  New York Daily News   ...About 60 activists gathered in front of Neeson’s building on Saturday, criticizing the actor for his support of the carriage horse industry...
Mayor Bill de Blasio's horse sense (opinion)  Crain's New York Business   ...when the mayor changed his mind last week, saying he'd postpone the industry ban until the end of the year, we welcomed the reprieve. Still, Mr. de Blasio's capricious approach to one industry continues to leave us concerned for every law-abiding business in this town. Apparently, following the rules and paying taxes is no longer sufficient for the privilege to try to earn a living in New York...
Trade
U.S.-Japan Talks Said Unable to Overcome Deal Obstacles  Bloomberg   ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari yesterday concluded talks in Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues...
State Battles
Local Media Fooled By Discredited Economic Competitiveness Report  Media Matters   ...Despite the uncritical, often glowing, pick-up by local media outlets, ALEC's competitiveness report has received scrutiny in the past, mostly due to evidence showing that economic data does not comport with the results of their study...
Column: Some fear Charles Koch's influence damages FSU's integrity  Tampa Bay Tribune   ...Koch's foundation has been funneling money to the economics department at FSU since 2008. This would be the same Koch who funds ultraconservative think tanks and preaches less government regulation...
Christina Bullins: Are our prisons safe in Florida?  Florida Public Employees Partnership   ...the inmate population had no significant changes.  Despite the addition of 245 positions last year, the number of officers reported in DOC’s budget request is 727 officers less than the year before...
War on Workers
Jon Stewart Demolishes the NCAA's Case Against Student-Athlete Unions  The Wire   ...players are forbidden from accepting nearly any gifts, including food – just ask the Oklahoma players punished for being served "pasta in excess."...
Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers  Los Angeles Times   ...Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt...
UConn’s 2,135 graduate assistants unionize  CT Mirror   ...The governing board of the state's flagship university unanimously voted in a "special meeting" last week to approve an agreement between the newly formed union -- UConn GEU-UAW -- and the university...
Miscellaneous
Senator Holds Commuter Safety Presser, Almost Gets Hit By Train  Gawker   ...Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal received an unexpected lesson in practicing what you preach at a press conference yesterday. Standing on the platform at the Milford Metro-North station, Blumenthal and his easel narrowly dodged an oncoming train as Milford Mayor Ben Blake spoke about commuter safety...

Today's Teamster News 03.10.14

Teamsters
Teamsters Thank Liam Neeson For Support Of Horse Carriage Drivers And Horses  teamster.org   ... Teamster officials and Teamster horse carriage drivers thanked actor Liam Neeson for escorting City Councilmembers on a tour of the Clinton Park Horse Stables Sunday afternoon. Councilmembers were invited to ask questions about the care and treatment of the animals and saw firsthand how well the horses live...
Liam Neeson Leads Carriage Horse Stable Tour  New York Daily News   ...Neeson, carriage drivers, and Teamsters reps took about a dozen Council members on tours of the stables. Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Queens), said he backs the drivers. “I’m a progressive, so I’m not looking to put 350 families out on the street,” he said...
Trade
Even the Chinese Can Tell the TransPacific Partnership is Unlikely to Get Done  naked capitalism   ...China and even some developing nations included in the TPP have expressed concern that it will set down trade rules primarily benefiting the richest countries and most powerful firms...
State Battles
How the Rich Became Dependent on Government Welfare  truthout   ...a full "three-quarters of all the economic development dollars awarded and disclosed by state and local governments have gone to just 965 large corporations" — not to the small businesses and startups that politicians so often pretend to care about. In dollar figures, that's a whopping $110 billion going to big companies. Fortune 500 firms alone receive more than 16,000 subsidies at a total cost of $63 billion...
The War on Workers
Wireless Bills Go Up, and Stay Up  Wall Street Journal   ...T-Mobile US Inc. raised the cost of its core unlimited data plan on Friday. The carrier says it has been competing more effectively by doing away with subscriber "pain points" like service contracts and international data fees...
After pledging transparency, PBS hides details of new deal with billionaire owner of NewsHour  Pando Daily   ...since 1994, the NewsHour has been produced and primarily owned by the for-profit colossus, Liberty Media. Liberty, which is run by conservative billionaire John Malone, owns the majority stake in MacNeil/Lehrer Productions – the entity that produces the journalistic content of the show...
Miscelleneous
US Postal Service Inspector General Proposes Launching Low-Fee Public Bank  The Real News   ...A public option for banks will dramatically improve and help regulate the financial services industry...
Use of Public Transit in U.S. Reaches Highest Level Since 1956, Advocates Report  New York Times   ...10.65 billion passenger trips were taken on transit systems during the year, surpassing the post-1950s peak of 10.59 million in 2008, when gas prices rose to $4 to $5 a gallon...