Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528  teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Georgia voted to become Teamsters...
Teamsters at Darigold Leaflet Walmart & Sam's Club Shoppers at 10 Locations  Teamsters Local 117 ...Teamster production workers and lab technicians, employed by Darigold, distributed leaflets at ten Walmart and Sam’s Club locations throughout the day to inform consumers about the company’s multiple violations of federal labor law and the growing threat of a potential lockout or strike...
Wegmans Employees Disgruntled Over Retirement Payments  Rochester Homepage   ...Dozens of people were outside Wegmans' company officers Friday practicing picketing over disagreements with Wegmans on retirement payments and wages. Current warehouse and driver employees are represented through the Teamsters Union...
The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business  AlterNet   ...That's more than an insult—it's an attack...
White House rebuffed union pleas to ditch Walmart  Salon   ...Labor leader says allies in the Administration tried to persuade First Lady to dump retail giant -- but were denied...
Bank of America goes to trial over U.S. mortgage fraud charges  Reuters   ...Bank of America Corp heads to trial this week over allegations its Countrywide unit approved deficient home loans in a process called "Hustle," defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government enterprises that underwrite mortgages...
One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds  Washington Wire   ...A new academic paper digging into presidential betting in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—perhaps to make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter...
Child Labor Dropped By One-Third Over The Past Decade, But UN Officials Urge Faster Progress  Associated Press   ...The number of children doing hazardous work dropped by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress isn't fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016...
Suicides Spiked One Year After Great Recession: Study  Huffington Post   ...The Great Recession resulted in 5,000 additional suicides worldwide in 2009, according to a recent study -- the first to look at suicide trends globally in the wake of the crisis...
At 77, He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage  Bloomberg News   ...At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe. Today, he juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator, the other flipping burgers…
Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps?  Washington Post   ...There's a fairly basic question underlying the current food-stamp debate in Congress. Why has the program grown so rapidly over the past few years — to the point where 47 million people, one-sixth of the country, now receive food stamps?...
Buy a House, Make Your Payments, Then Discover You've Been Foreclosed On Without Your Knowledge  AlterNet   ...This should never happen, but it did, thanks to the sordid mortgage servicing industry...
Chiquita Asks Court To Block Suits Blaming Banana Giant For Violent Deaths  Associated Press   ...Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war...
Ag-gag resurfaces, threatens whistleblowers  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Opponents of ag-gag legislation reasonably fear that it obstructs First Amendment rights. Such legislation also protects illegal and unethical practices while punishing whistleblowers...
Major police union will sit out race for New Jersey governor  Star-Ledger   ...In a blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, one of New Jersey’s two largest police unions has decided to sit out the election for governor...
Florida offers to cut loan balances for 'underwater' homeowners  Orlando Sentinel   ...Florida homeowners with "underwater" mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state...
Amazon to collect 6 pct sales tax in WV  Associated Press   ...Amazon will start collecting a 6 percent sales tax on purchases shipped to West Virginia starting Oct. 1...
BART prepares for another possible worker strike  Associated Press   ...As another potential strike looms, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are preparing other ways to get commuters to work, including possibly allowing managers to drive a limited number of trains...

NJ Gov. Christie: misclassifying workers is okay

This week New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have helped the state crack down on the misclassification of workers in the trucking industry.

By killing the legislation (A1578/S1450), Christie gave his blessing to employers that deny basic employee rights to port truck drivers and cheat the state out of tax revenues through willful and widespread misclassification.

Teamsters International Vice President Fred Potter said in a statement:

Governor Christie has demonstrated time after time that he does not care about New Jersey’s working families. He is leaving New Jersey behind by doing the bidding for law‐breaking trucking companies that willfully misclassify drivers to avoid paying employer taxes and to push the most basic cost of doing business onto the workforce.

The problem of misclassification in the trucking industry is well-documented. It's part of an industry-wide effort to keep workers out of the middle class so companies can rake in more profit. But it's also a problem that -- thanks in part to Teamster action -- is finally being addressed in many states. The Coalition for Healthy Ports points out:

Across America, the trucking industry is being modernized as states crack down on the misclassification of truck drivers. A worker misclassification law was recently signed in Illinois and another one is expected to be signed in New York.

And port truck drivers are not waiting for new laws to assert their rights as employees. In California over 500 claims have been filed with the CA Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (CA DLSE) by port truck drivers who say their companies have misclassified them.

At a time when so many agencies and Legislatures are moving in the right direction on worker misclassification, Governor Christie’s veto is in the wrong direction.

Thousands of port truck drivers in the U.S. are wrongly classified as owner-operators. Drivers are often required to buy or lease their own trucks from companies and pay for their upkeep. But they are denied "employee" status despite the fact that the companies control their compensation and regulate their work. This means the workers are not allowed to form a union and the companies avoid paying millions in taxes.

Teamsters have been leading the fight for workers' rights and against misclassification in the industry, using lobbying, lawsuits and organizing to bring dignity to drivers. In July, Teamsters successfully organized Toll Group drivers in New Jersey following an historic organizing victory at Toll in Los Angeles. And just a few weeks ago Teamsters organized a powerful one-day strike at the Port of LA.

But with anti-worker politicians like Christie at the wheel in New Jersey, there's still a lot of work to do to stop the war on workers in port trucking and beyond.

Christie also used this week as an opportunity to attack workers in the building trades by gutting prevailing wage provisions in the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013. That's a blow to construction workers whose employers won't be required to pay prevailing wages even while they receive tax credits from the state.

The struggle continues.

Woot! N.J. Senate approves misclassification bill; now it's up to Christie

(UPDATES to CORRECT title to misclassification, sted misidentification)

The New Jersey Senate did its job this afternoon sticking up for companies that properly pay port and parcel delivery truck drivers. Now it's up to Gov. Chris Christie to show corporations and workers that he won't provide cover for those who duck taxes and employee benefit obligations by mislabeling their drivers as contractors.

By a 21-to-17 vote, the state Senate backed S-1450, siding with Teamsters and other pro-labor groups by approving strict penalties for companies that attempt to cheat the system and drivers. The bill makes it more difficult for trucking companies involved in short-distance hauling -- known as drayage trucking -- or package delivery (i.e., FedEx Ground) to improperly classify their drivers as contract workers. The Assembly passed its own version of the same legislation last week.

As part of the legislation:

... trucking services performed in the drayage trucking industry or parcel delivery industry by an individual for remuneration are deemed to be employment unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development that:

1. The individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of that service, both under his contract of service and in fact;

2. The service is either outside the usual course of the business for which the service is performed, or the service is performed outside of all the places of business of the employer for which the service is performed; and

3. The individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

The Teamsters have long advocated for an end of the practice known as misclassification across the country, noting that it not only hurts its membership but taxpayers as well. It allows companies to shirk their responsibilities by sparing them from paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, as well as overtime and benefits.

Besides New Jersey, Teamsters have taken up the fight against misclassification this year in several others states, including Georgia and New York. Meanwhile, 14 states have joined up with the U.S. Department of Labor to fight the problem nationally.

The legislation now heads to Gov. Christie, who has not been kind to labor during his term in office. In an April town meeting, for example, he said "unions are the problem." The governor seems more interested in photo ops with President Obama than in securing fair wages for the state's workers. Don't let that continue. Contact Gov. Christie and tell him that cracking down on unscrupulous companies that cheat their workers is the right thing to do.

Jersey Strong! State lawmakers vote to protect truckers against misclassification

The New Jersey General Assembly this afternoon cracked down on the misclassification of port and parcel delivery truck drivers as independent operators. By a 42-30 vote, lawmakers sided with the Teamsters and other pro-labor groups by approving strict penalties for companies who attempt to cheat the system and drivers.

Currently, some companies shirk their responsibilities by claiming that drivers who in practice work for them are actually contract workers. That spares them from paying Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and employee benefits, including overtime pay. Assembly Bill 1578 makes it more difficult for trucking companies involved in short-distance hauling - known as drayage trucking - or package delivery to engage in this unfair practice. As stated in the legislation:

[T]his bill creates a presumption that a work arrangement in the drayage trucking or parcel delivery trucking industry is an employer-employee relationship unless the party receiving the services can overcome the legal presumption of employment. Under the bill, trucking services performed in the drayage trucking industry or parcel delivery industry by an individual for remuneration are deemed to be employment unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development that:

1. The individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of that service, both under the individual’s contract of service and in fact;

2. The service is either outside the usual course of the business for which the service is performed, or the service is performed outside of all the places of business of the employer for which the service is performed; and

3. The individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business.

For years, corporations wanting to employ their workers on the cheap have denied hard-working drivers their proper due. At the same time, trucking companies trying to do the right thing were put at a disadvantage because they were paying higher labor costs. We're glad New Jersey lawmakers see that good drivers and good companies should be protected against unscrupulous actors.

That said, don't give up the fight now! The bill will go to the state Senate for consideration. Let's make sure hard-working truckers get the fair pay they deserve.

Minimum wage on ballot in NJ after Christie veto?

New Jersey Democrats are vowing to put a minimum wage increase on the ballot since Gov. Chris Christie's veto of the popular measure. Christie took a page out of Dickens and vetoed a $1.25 raise for the poorest paid workers in the Garden State.

(If you can't quite place Chris Christie, he's the guy who once urged reporters to "take a bat" to a 76-year-old widow -- and then called teacher's unions "political thugs.")

An overwhelming number of New Jerseyans wants to raise the minimum wage. NJBiz reports,

A Quinnipiac poll released last week found 82 percent of New Jersey voters support the wage hike, though the poll questions did not mention the Democrats’ proposal to tie future increases to the CPI index.

The minimum wage hike would have given a raise to 537,000 New Jersey workers, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective. Of those, 307,000 New Jerseyans making between $7.25 and $8.50 per hour would get an immediate raise. The rest would make a higher hourly wage as increases were scaled in later.

NJPP argues the resulting $439 million wage increase would spur commerce by $278 million in the first year -- and create 2,420 new jobs.

Democrats want to let the voters decide. phillyBurbs.com reported,

They plan to place an amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot that would boost the minimum wage and tie future increases to the consumer price index. 

“The governor has essentially told working-class families that they’re on their own,” Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-6th of Voorhees, said Monday. “Our only recourse now is to present voters with a constitutional amendment and hope they will have more compassion for their neighbors than this governor.” 

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd of West Deptford, said Christie’s veto was politically driven and condemns New Jersey’s many working-class families to struggle with a stagnant wage equal to the federal minimum. 

“We gave the governor a chance to do the right thing for working people in New Jersey. His action shows that he believes politics and politicians need to remain part of the process on minimum wage. I think they need to be removed from it entirely,” said Sweeney, who announced Monday he would not run for governor.

Keep in mind that one-third of poor American adults are working but don't earn enough to support themselves and their families. One-fourth of jobs in America pay below the federal poverty line for a family of four ($23,050).

Hard times.

Today's Teamster News 04.02.12

Can the US consumer keep spending?  Macrobusiness   ...income growth remains lousy at 0.2% for February. Indeed, in real terms it fell 0.1%. For growth, however, the news was better with the personal consumption expenditures jumping 0.8% in the month...
Trans-Pacific Partnership April Fools hoax traps some media  Computerworld   ...The opposition lobby on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPA) and some media outlets were momentarily excited over the weekend at the news that secrecy on the trade negotiations had been lifted and a full text of the current agreement was about to be released...
Some of Christie's biggest bills match model legislation from D.C. group called ALEC  Newark Star-Ledger   ...Experts and watchdog groups say ALEC has supplied some of the dominant legislative proposals in Arizona, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine, among others. The bills rolled back union benefits, toughened voter-registration laws, eased environmental rules and spun off government services to the private sector...
How State Media Turned A Blind Eye To ALEC's Influence On The Voter ID Debate  Media Matters   ...the largest newspapers in the seven states that enacted voter ID laws in 2011 have largely ignored ALEC's influence...
We’ll bring Britain to standstill warn truckers  Yorkshire Post   ...Ahead of talks between unions and fuel distributors this week, fuel lobby leaders say they have formed an alliance with the tanker drivers and plan to blockade refineries and cause gridlock on motorways to stop soldiers moving fuel around the UK...
Hostess Serves Up New Batch of Cuts  Wall Street Journal   ...with the Twinkie maker back on life support after Hostess filed for Chapter 11 protection again in January, Mr. Peruzzi and about 16,000 other unionized workers are being asked to give up yet more, or their jobs will cease to exist...

Today's Teamster News 03.09.12

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

Today's Teamster News 02.24.12

Union sues to stop Indiana "right-to-work" law  Reuters   ...The suit, filed on Wednesday, claims the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by requiring dues-paying members to furnish free representation to people who refuse to join the union and pay dues, also known as "free riders."...
Political Notebook: Supporters of Right-to-Work amendment trying to rally public support  PostBulletin.com   ...Backers of a proposed Right-to-Work constitutional amendment (in Minnesota) have launched an aggressive campaign to win over supporters in hopes of pressuring enough state senators and representatives to get on board...
Gov. Chris Christie's budget plan would help rich, hurt middle class (opinion)   Newark Star-Ledger   ...(The governor's proposed income tax cut) for the rich, this would be enough for a family vacation in the south of France every year. For the typical middle-class family ... it wouldn’t be enough to buy the kids new shoes...
Corporate Lobby Group Gave Cash Awards to Cantor, 21 State Lawmakers  Common Cause   ...A lobbying group funded by some of the nation's richest corporations appears to have given ethically and perhaps legally dubious cash awards to nearly two dozen state and federal lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Common Cause said today...
Big Banks Squeeze Billions in Profits from Public Budgets  SEIU   ...The banks have already taken as much as $28 billion from state and local governments. Now, during the worst public budget crisis in memory, the big banks seek to collect billions more from toxic deals that local and state governments are trapped into and are forcing layoffs and cuts to services to cover payments to banks...
Teamsters Testify About Workers' Rights Violations at Loomis
IBT   ...Teamsters and legal and security experts testified about workers' rights violations by Loomis, an armored car guard company, before a public hearing at the UC Berkeley Labor Center on Tuesday...

Today's Teamster News 12.02.11

For Jobless, Little Hope of Restoring Better Days  New York Times   ...just 7 percent of those who lost jobs after the financial crisis have returned to or exceeded their previous financial position and maintained their lifestyles...
In Recording, American Crystal Sugar President Likens Union Workers to Cancerous Tumor  Minnesota AFL-CIO   ...The already strained relationship between management of American Crystal Sugar Company (ACSC) and its 1,300 locked out workers was dealt another serious blow when recordings of anti-worker statements by ACSC President and CEO Dave Berg were made public this week...
Speaker O'Brien Lies in Press Statement, Unable to Name a Single Business to Move to NH if HB 474 Had Passed  Granite State Progress   ..."Not once has the topic of right-to-work ever come up in all of [their] discussions with New Hampshire businesses and prospective businesses..."
Opinion: N.J. unions will achieve goals by speaking with collective voice  Times of Trenton   ...When our political system gets so out of whack that it stops working for the very people it represents, working- and middle-class voters do what too many politicians have been refusing to do: Come together to restore balance to our economy and our politics...
Wisconsin Recall Drive Surpasses 300,000 Signatures  The Nation   ...What is truly remarkable is where the signatures are coming from: rural and small-town Wisconsin communities are contributing disproportionally high numbers of signatures to the total...
How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street  The Ticket   ..."I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism..."
Mayor Bloomberg: ‘I Have My Own Army’  New York Observer   ...“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world..."

Here's how to create jobs

We're sick and tired of these Tea Party politicians who say the way to create jobs is to "liberate the free enterprise system from the shackles of government." That's code for "cutting taxes for our rich buddies the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers."

It's also whackadoodle economics.

Let's just see how well our favorite Tea Party governors have done with their state economies.

• In Wisconsin, Koch whore  Gov. Scott Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs. Since he's taken office, the unemployment rate in Wisconsin rose dramatically faster than the national average. 
•  In Ohio, Gov. John Kountry Klub Kasich's "jobs budget" led to rising unemployment since May.
• In Florida, Gov. Pink Slip Rick Scott is backing off his promise to create 700,000 jobs because he's unlikely to come anywhere near that goal. Florida's unemployment rate dropped by one-tenth of one percent since he was sworn in, though economists point out half of all new jobs suck and have nothing to do with his policies anyway. (Though the jobs lost through lay-offs and rejection of high-speed rail funds are his doing.)
• In New Jersey, Chris "David Koch's Kind of Guy" Christie has been governor for two years. You'll find the Garden State's economy in the toilet. Employment slid from June 2010 to June 2011, while 41 states saw growth.

Want to know how to create jobs? Teamster General President Jim Hoffa pointed out in the Detroit News that North Dakota (yup!) and Michigan are the No. 1 and No. 2 fastest growing states in the country. It wasn't because their free enterprise systems were unshackled. It's because the government invested wisely. In North Dakota, the state deposits its tax revenue in a state-owned bank that reinvests that money in North Dakota. In Michigan, federal government loans are bringing back manufacturing.

Writes Hoffa,

Michigan and North Dakota show that government can and should pick winners and losers.

They show that globalization isn't inevitable and that unions help create American jobs. And they demonstrate that economic growth doesn't rely on overcompensated executives at big, bailed-out Wall Street banks churning out complicated financial instruments.

Michigan especially shows how manufacturing is essential to our economic health. When the auto industry moved overseas, Michigan's economy collapsed. Now it's coming back, and so is Michigan's economy.

Read the whole thing here.

Today's Teamster News 08.18.11

Democrats win last two Wisconsin recalls (opinion)  Washington Post   ...What’s clear is that the fight has moved public opinion the Democrats’ way, but not as fast or as dramatically as the Democrats had hoped...
Wisconsin Democrats Score Two More Recall Wins as Voters Reject a GOP Governor's Anti-Labor Agenda  The Nation   ...Democrats won the overall majority of votes cast in the nine districts, with roughly 243,000 votes statewide to 239,000 for the Republicans. That’s a narrow margin but remember that Governor Walker won these districts in 2010, and that Republican Senate candidates easily won six of them in 2008...
Kasich, fellow Republicans propose SB 5 deal to unions  Columbus Dispatch   ...Gov. John Kasich pleaded with organized labor leaders today to compromise on Senate Bill 5 and cancel a fall referendum on the controversial bill that peels back public employee collective bargaining rights...
Right to Work legislation to be considered by state legislature  Michigan Messenger   ...Michigan can expect a push in the state legislature to pass Right to Work legislation following the end of the summer break at the capitol...
Drive to repeal emergency manager law still needs 130,000 signatures on petitions, organizers say  Detroit Free Press   ...The deadline to turn in the petitions is in March. If the State Board of Canvassers certifies that the group -- the Stand Up for Democracy committee -- collected sufficient signatures, the law would be suspended until voters decide its fate on the ballot in November 2012...
Citing Debt and Benefits, Fitch Lowers Bond Rating for New Jersey  New York Times  ...Despite its efforts to cut spending, New Jersey is a riskier investment, one of the leading ratings agencies said on Wednesday as it lowered the state’s credit rating, citing heavy debt and benefits obligations...
Right-to-work battle grows between PA business, labor  Statehouse News Online   ...A package of bills, introduced this session by state House Republicans, seeks to repeal state laws requiring all state workers, local government employees and public school teachers to pay dues, even if they choose not to join a union... 

Today's Teamster News 08.12.11

Reminder, light blogging at TeamsterNation until Aug. 16.

Finding hope in the results from Wisconsin  Salon   ...Tuesday’s recall elections were not statewide, but they do indicate that in some districts Republicans continue to be vulnerable, while in some areas there is a definite movement toward the center if not the left...
Our view: Holperin the best choice in recall contest  Wausau Daily Herald  ...Holperin has a legislative record of working hard for his constituents...
Final two recall elections could lead to state’s first tea party senator  The Cap Times   ...The seats, held by Democratic incumbents Jim Holperin of Conover and Robert Wirch of Pleasant Prairie, are the last of the nine recall elections...
Gov. John Kasich moves ahead with turnpike leasing proposal  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...critics of the plan ... argue that the toll road is extremely well-kept and friendly to neighboring communities. They fear the possible alternative: a money-hungry private operator with no qualms about raising tolls while slacking on maintenance...
Recession in our back yard: 3 manufacturers closing in South Jersey  courierpostonline.com   ...In a span of only a few months, three large manufacturers in South Jersey announced they would shut down, shedding more than 500 jobs and leaving almost 1 million square feet of factory space idle...
Rick Scott Pays $360 a Year for State Health Insurance  Mother Jones   ...Florida's anti-Obamacare governor and his tea party allies in the Legislature pay less for state-funded health insurance than janitors, cops, or teachers...

Need a job? Don't bother. Especially in NJ

Companies are posting "Help Wanted" ads that say they won't hire you if you don't already have a job.

Not just a few companies. A lot of companies.

The Economic Populist posted a story about a study by the National Employment Law Project. NELP found 150 ads over a four-week period in which the employer said applicants had to have a job. According to the study:

A NELP researcher reviewed job postings during that period that appeared on four of the nation’s most prominent online job listing websites: CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com, Monster.com, and Craigslist.com. The online research sought information on both employers and staffing firms that were specifically identified by name (often, job listings are posted anonymously), while also seeking a diverse sample from across the United States.

NELP’s snapshot of jobs postings identified more than 150 ads that included exclusions based on current employment status, including 125 ads that identified specific companies by name. The overwhelming majority of the offending ads required that applicants “must be currently employed.”

If you're out of a job, you'd better hope you're not in New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie is the longest serving of all the Governors Gone Wild. His attacks on teachers, savage budget cuts and giveaways to his rich buddies haven't exactly helped the Garden State create jobs.

New Jersey's unemployment rate rose in June to a catastrophic 9.5 percent. And the long-term unemployed really have it bad. Reports the Newark Star-Ledger,

In 2010, the Garden State led the nation with 37 percent of its unemployed workers having been jobless for more than a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New Jersey actually passed a law recently banning job ads that don't let unemployed workers from applying. Unfortunately that doesn't stop employers from refusing to hire the jobless.

Today's Teamster News 07.20.11

Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."A win like this, in my mind, creates momentum for the next eight recall races," Hansen said...
S.B. 5 foes say petition drive made it  Columbus Dispatch   ...More than 800,000 valid signatures have been found on the Senate Bill 5 referendum petition, opponents of the law said as yesterday's deadline passed for county elections boards to turn in signature totals...
Poll: Voters would reject Emergency Manager law  Michigan Messenger   ...The poll found strong opposition to the law in both union and non-union households...
Conferees reconcile 4 spending bills  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...Four days after reaching a global budget agreement, GOP leaders and the governor hammered out a deal Monday on four spending bills...
Report says N.J. to have painfully slow economic recovery  Politics Patrol   ...New Jersey gained 11 percent of jobs lost during the recession compared to 20 percent nationwide...
Standing Up for Economic Rights Is a Human Right  Huffington Post   ...As Arab citizens take to the streets, at great risk, to secure economic rights and democratic voice in their respective countries, several extremist governors and advocates are stripping American workers of their economic rights and voice by working to eliminate or weaken collective bargaining and voter protections...

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...

VIDEO: WI, MN, MI get their protest on

Skirmishes in the War on Workers continue on land and on sea. In Wisconsin, floating protests of Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker have become an art form. The one you see on youtube (above) took place on July 2, when Tonette Walker threw a garden party at the governor's residence on Maple Bluff.

The Daily Isthmus reports:

Saturday's protest was organized very quickly, says Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who organized the event through the "Shit Scott Walker Is Doing To My State" Facebook page he operates. He learned about the party Friday night and created a Facebook event Saturday morning.

Kohl-Riggs was pleasantly surprised that the turnout included people who had not met prior to the protest. The flotilla consisted of two kayaks, two canoes and a paddleboat.

"Saturday was kind of a test drive," Kohl-Riggs says. He has since created a Facebook event called "A Summer Full of #wiflotilla" to organize future lake shore protests. Flotilla protesters are also organizing with the Twitter hashtag #wiflotilla.

Guess that is what democracy floats like. (Look for the "Stop the War on Workers" sign in the video.)

In shuttered Minnesota, protesters set up a Downeyville outside of the state Capitol  today. They're following the example of Walkerville, Bloombergville and Christieville. You'll recall Minnesota has shut down because extremist Republican lawmakers refuse to tax millionaires. Downeyville is named after Edina Rep. Keith Downey, who wants to cut 5,000 state jobs and destroy government unions.

The Minnesota Independent quotes Jenifer Munt, AFSCME spokeswoman:

“We’re trying to make sure people understand what’s at stake with an all-cuts budget,” Munt told the Minnesota Independent. “The shutdown gives people a taste of what that would be like, but the Republican budget proposals as they stand today are far worse than the shutdown for the average person in Minnesota.”

Aside from the playful aspects of the event, it represents a push by the public employee unions MAPE and AFSCME to put pressure on Republican moderates who might help shift their caucuses towards compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton to end the state government shutdown. Republicans have so far shown little willingness to change their positions.

Judging by the photos, it looks as if a thousand people -- government workers, we're told -- joined the protest, many with "We Want To Work" signs. It wasn't the first protest in St. Paul over the shutdown, and it won't be the last. Minnesota's unions say they have actions planned throughout the month of July. Meanwhile, the shutdown is costing a lot of money.

Yesterday in Michigan, state employees protested a plan to privatize a veterans home (what a great way to say "thank you" to our veterans). And give Michiganders credit for trying to recall Rick Snyder and the heinous emergency financial manager (governor-appointed local dictator) law. Eclectablog is a great place to follow those efforts.

And let's not forget our brothers and sisters in Egypt, who are planning a massive protest in Tahrir Square tomorrow.

Christie gets face rake

There may be more to this than meets the eye. New Jersey's hacktacular Senate president -- the guy who sold out the middle class by agreeing to destroy government unions -- gave an extraordinary newspaper interview recently. Senate President Stephen Sweeney was talking to a reporter on the record when he called Gov. Chris Christie a "prick," a "bully" and a "punk."
All this is probably just Sweeney giving himself cover for his alignment with New Jersey's own Governor Gone Wild. And he should never, ever be forgiven for selling out our union brothers and sisters. But still, it's therapeutic to read what he had to say about Christie.

Some of the highlights:

This is all about him being a bully and a punk. 

I wanted to punch him in his head.

He’s just a rotten bastard to do what he did.

It’s like a bank robber taking hostages. And now he’s starting to shoot people.

He is a cruel man.

He’s mean-spirited.

He’s a rotten prick.

This is what Christie did, according to the Newark Star-Ledger:  

• cut the Senate and Assembly budgets, but not his own, a move that is unprecedented. He cut money from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, the outfit that sided with Democrats on this year’s revenue estimates.
• cut a fellowship program run by Alan Rosenthal, the Rutgers University professor who served as referee in this year’s legislative redistricting fight, and sided with Democrats.
• cut $45 million in tax credits for the working poor, $9 million in health care for the working poor, $8 million for women’s health care, another $8 million in AIDS funding and $9 million in mental-health services.
• added $150 million in school aid for the suburbs, including the wealthiest towns in the state.

Christie is on a two-week vacation with his family, so he didn't respond to Sweeney's comments. But his flack said they were inappropriate and disrespectful. She didn't say they were inaccurate.

Today's Teamster News 07.06.11

Recall elections this month  Today's TMJ4   ...Wisconsin is one week away from the start of recall elections for nine state senators...
Developmentally disabled run over by Kasich’s budget bus  Plunderbund   ... sorry to those developmentally disabled kids of Twinsburg. Next time you should make sure you have the right lobbyist...
Once-growing movie business is now shrinking  Detroit Free Press   ...More than four months after Gov. Rick Snyder announced plans to drastically scale back generous incentives for moviemaking, Michigan's once rapidly expanding film industry is shrinking...
Voters angry about Minnesota shutdown give Republican lawmaker an earful at July Fourth parade  Associated Press   ...With neither side willing to budge, talks broke down Thursday night hours before the government shutdown. They have yet to resume...
With enemies like these, Chris Christie doesn't need to make friends  Capital New York   ...Only in New Jersey could it even possibly be a sign of a healthy, functioning political partnership when the president of the State Senate calls the governor "a rotten prick...
The Rock and the Hard Place on the Deficit (opinion)  New York Times   ... tax increases and spending cuts will tend to slow the recovery in the near term, but spending cuts will likely slow it more...

Today's Teamster News 06.29.11

After heated debate, Wis. union law takes effect  Wisconsin State Journal   ...The changes amount to an average 8 percent pay cut. The bill also strips them of almost all their collective bargaining rights, allowing them to negotiate only on wages...
Protesters, and rats, greet Scott Walker in New York  Capitol Confidential   ...“Say it loud! Say it clear! Scott Walker is not welcome here!” chanted a gaggle of union members and supporters...
State Senate passes budget that will change Ohio  Columbus Dispatch   ...Local governments, nursing homes, schools and universities must make do with less...
Christie signs bill reining in employee benefits  Associated Press   ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday signed landmark employee benefits legislation that increases pension and health contributions paid by a half-million teachers, police and other public workers and removes the issue from collective bargaining for four years...
Malloy: With union deal dead, legislature may have to force change  The Connecticut Mirror   ...Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said today he will explore legislative options to curtail what he called state government's unsustainable, long-term health and pension costs, but he refused to say if he will seek a curb on collective-bargaining rights for state employees...
Calif. bill would ease farmworker unionization  Associated Press   ...Gov. Jerry Brown has until midnight Tuesday to act on a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize farmworkers in California, but growers characterize the legislation as a union power-grab...

Today's Teamster News 06.28.11

Updated: Sheriff investigating Wis. Supreme Court argument  Associated Press   ...A fight between Wisconsin's divided Supreme Court justices led today to a criminal investigation and calls from the governor and others to resolve longstanding differences and restore public confidence in the institution...
Wisconsin Teachers React To Gov. Scott Walker's Newly Signed Budget Huffington Post   ...This weekend, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) signed into law a budget that scrapped $800 million in education funding following an earlier law that reduced collective bargaining rights to almost nothing...
GOP wants to keep the riffraff out of Ohio's polls: Thomas Suddes  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...Southern segregationists used the poll tax to keep black Americans and poor Americans from voting. Today, Republicans want to require a photo ID from an Ohioan before he or she may vote...
Indiana's bumpy road to privatization  Los Angeles Times   ...After the private sector took over the state's public assistance program, services were disrupted while politically connected firms benefited...
Legislature to hammer out final details of state budget this week  Associated Press  ...Stark differences in party policy and ideology will be fully exposed this week as Republicans and Democrats hammer out the details of New Jersey’s state budget for the fiscal year that starts Friday...
Republicans doing harm to N.H. residents  seacoastonline.com   ...On June 22, the Republican supermajorities in the N.H. House and Senate launched an all-out attack on the people they were elected to serve...