Today's Teamster News 04.24.14

Teamster News
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills  Teamster.org   ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots  Teamster.org   ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units  Atlanta Business Chronicle   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill  People's World   ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds.  "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats  Politico   ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks  CNN Money   ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate  Missouri Times   ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race  PR Watch   ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon   ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise  Bloomberg   ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage  Washington Post   ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes  NPR   ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million  AFL-CIO Now   ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday  Chicago Tribune   ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today  Moyers & Company   ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers  MSNBC   ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party  ThinkProgress   ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...

Missouri newspaper to Karl Rove: Get lost!

Well, that isn't quite what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editors said. But it's close.

Here's what they said about Rove, whose Crossroads GPS Super PAC (along with the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity) has already dumped $60 million of unknown origin into political attack ads:

The 217,430 Missouri GOP voters who decided on Aug. 7 that they wanted Mr. (Todd) Akin to take on Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in a race for the U.S. Senate should be deeply offended by what Mr. Rove is trying to pull. 

On Monday, following Mr. Akin's ridiculously stupid comments about "legitimate rape," Mr. Rove's billionaire-funded Crossroads GPS, a Super PAC that intends to spend millions of non-Missouri dollars to defeat Ms. McCaskill, said that it would take its money and spend it elsewhere if Mr. Akin didn't withdraw from the race. 

Once Mr. Rove spoke with his donors' cash, other top Republicans fell in line. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and former Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, John C. Danforth and John Ashcroft all called on Mr. Akin to step down. 

As we write this, Mr. Akin hasn't withdrawn. 

That one man — Mr. Rove — has the power and audacity to try to undo the will of 217,430 voters, and that many top Missouri Republicans are aiding and abetting his efforts, should confound and dismay most Americans.

The editors note that Rove did something like this before in Missouri 39 years ago. He tried to steal the leadership of the national college Republicans by questioning his opponent's qualifications to vote.

They conclude that Rove's bullying has nothing to do with Todd Akin saying dumb things or Sen. Claire McCaskill's vote on health insurance reform:

To Mr. Rove, this is simply about removing obstacles to his power. Ms. McCaskill was in his way. Now it's Mr. Akin. Voters? They're just a means to an end.

Yup.

Dems challenge Koch, Rove

'Bout time.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee today asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate three Republican-leaning nonprofits who are spending millions on the 2012 campaigns.

The groups are Crossroads GPS, co-founded by Karl Rove; Americans for Prosperity, which is linked to David and Charles Koch; and 60-Plus Association, which has ties to Crossroads political director Carl Forti. The latter also has indirect ties to the Kochs: In 2010, 60-Plus Association received $9 million from a separate nonprofit run by a Republican political consultant who has shared the podium at Koch-sponsored conferences for donors with AFP President Tim Phillips.

“These groups’ major purpose is to influence elections,” said the complaint filed by DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil. “These organizations are actually claiming that they are no more political than a church, a synagogue, or even the American Cancer Society. It is patently absurd and we certainly expect that the FEC would take action.”

Too bad the FEC won't do anything. As Bloomberg points out,

The FEC, which is deadlocked, 3-3, between Democratic and Republican commissioners, has not taken any action against these nonprofits. 

Today's Teamster News 11.13.11

Obama, leaders set framework for Asia-Pacific trade agreement  The Hill   ...President Obama and representatives of eight other nations agreed to a framework on Saturday for a free trade agreement in the Pacific Rim region...
Ad By Crossroads, Karl Rove's Outfit, Yanked Off Air For Being False  Huffington Post   ...Recently a number of ads by the well-funded conservative outfit have been declared misleading and false, but the spot targeting Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is apparently the first pulled from the air...
Occupy Homes: New Coalition Links Homeowners, Activists in Direct Action to Halt Foreclosures  Democracy Now   ...A loose-knit coalition of activists known as "Occupy Homes" is working to stave off pending evictions by occupying homes at risk of foreclosure when tenants enlist its support. The movement has recently enjoyed a number of successes...
Democratic Party Of Georgia Treasurer Destroys Bank Of America Card At Occupy Athens  ThinkProgress   ...Russell Edwards ... offered to defend anyone who was arrested pro bono and encouraged everyone there to move their money from big banks to local community banks or credit unions. He also destroyed his Bank of America card in front of the audience...
Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor, Cancels GOP Fundraiser Appearance Amidst Protest, Recall Plans  Huffington Post   ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who is currently under threat of being recalled from office, is canceling his plans to attend a GOP fundraiser in Wichita, Kan., and labor unions are taking the credit...
Voters rate Scott's performance poor  Florida Today   ...the Republican governor’s approval ratings have remained steady the past few months, with 50 percent of voters saying he’s not doing a good job and 36 percent saying he is...

Today's Teamster News 07.12.11

Recall season opens in Wisconsin  Wall Street Journal   ...A series of recall elections begins Tuesday in Wisconsin as voters decide the fate of nine state senators, in the latest fallout from Republican Gov. Scott Walker's decision earlier this year to curtail public employees' collective-bargaining rights...
Group airs ads against Brown in Ohio  Columbus Dispatch   ...A group affiliated with former President George W. Bush’s political strategist Karl Rove is airing commercials bashing Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio...with $7 million worth of ads on network, cable TV and Internet ads...
Maine Democrats decry voting measures  Bangor Daily News   ...Maine Democrats say they’re bothered by two voting bills that came up during this year’s legislative session (that) ... attack Mainers’ voting rights...
Gridlock deals gut punch to businesses  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...Nearby shops that cater to -- and rely on -- state workers find themselves struggling to survive...
Union sues governor to get pay raises  Chicago Tribune   ...Quinn moved to block the pay hikes when he made changes last week to the state budget that lawmakers sent him, saying they did not set aside enough money to cover the increases...
NJ Democrats fail to override 15 of Gov. Christie's vetoes  Neward Star-Ledger   ...In one vote after another, the overrides failed along party lines 24-15, with one exception when state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) broke ranks and voted with Democrats to restore funding for family planning clinics...