Today's Teamster News 09.29.14

Trade
TPP deadline moves again  Radio New Zealand   ...Another self-imposed deadline to agree a Pacific-wide trade deal appears to be crumbling...
Study Confirms: Offshoring Sucks  Economic Populist   ...ever since Bill Clinton granted permanent normal trade relations to the China, the U.S has lost over 64,000 manufacturing firms and at least 5.8 million manufacturing jobs...
CAFTA and the Forced Migration Crisis  Public Citizen   ... The deal appears to have actually contributed to the economic instability feeding the region’s increase in violence and forced migration...
State Battles
Jerry Brown signs subcontractor bill  The Sacramento Bee   ...In a major victory for California labor unions, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he has signed legislation that will hold businesses liable when subcontractors violate wage, workplace safety or workers’ compensation rules...
LA Hotel Workers Win $15.37 Minimum Wage: a New Day for Labor in the United States?  Economic Policy Institute   ...The LA County AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE Local 11 (the LA area union of hospitality workers), and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which led the campaign, don’t intend to rest on their laurels and will push for an across-the-board minimum wage increase to $13.25 an hour, far above the national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour...
Thank Goodness Wisconsin Turned Down High Speed Rail!  Econbrowser   ...We find that sales and measured productivity rose substantially for firms near the new (high speed rail) stations after the opening...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin slows updates of building and safety codes  The Cap Times   ...DuPont, a lobbyist representing the Alliance for Regulatory Coordination, a consortium of more than a dozen state industry and public safety groups, warned Ross that failure to do so “can negatively impact both public safety and the economy in Wisconsin because products and designs offered across the nation most often reflect the newest national model regulations...”
War on Workers
Watchdog presses SEC for CEO pay disclosure  The Hill   ...The Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday for dragging its feet on the CEO pay disclosure rule amid pressure from business groups to scrap it...
Hong Kong Protesters Defy Officials’ Call to Disperse  New York Times   ...The continued public resistance underscored the difficulties that the Hong Kong government faces in defusing widespread anger that erupted on Sunday, after the police used tear gas, pepper spray and batons to break up a three-day sit-in by students and other residents demanding democratic elections in the semiautonomous Chinese territory...
Court to Weigh Political-Contribution Ban for Government Contractors  Wall Street Journal   ...A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday will consider a fresh challenge to campaign-finance rules, this time a 74-year-old law prohibiting government contractors from making political contributions tied to federal elections...
'Why They Hate Us': A Rant Against U.S. Before Attack on Chicago Air Traffic Hub  Bloomberg   ...The man charged with setting fire to a Chicago-area air-traffic facility, paralyzing travel through the city’s two major airports, was consumed by the U.S. government’s “immoral and unethical acts,” according to a Facebook message under his name. The posting, which includes references to being under the influence of drugs, calls government workers “lazy and useless” and said the government “would rather take care of itself and the money in the world, definitely not its people.”...
Construction worker killed in Rockdale County wreck  Atlanta Journal-Constitution   ...A construction worker died Saturday night in Rockdale County after being trapped underneath a dump truck...

Today's Teamster News 08.21.14

Teamster News
Labor Voices: Debbie Stabenow Pushes To Bring Jobs Home (opinion)  Detroit News   ...Speak with any elected official, and inevitably he or she will stress the need to create more U.S. jobs. But given the opportunity to do so just before Congress went on its annual August recess, Senate Republicans decided they would rather do nothing instead...
Trade
Michael Froman’s PR Blitzkrieg  Trade Reform   ...Ambassador Michael Froman is blitzing the country trying to push the economy-killing, sovereignty-outsourcing Trans-Pacific Partnership...
State Battles
Microsoft Ditches ALEC In Latest Blow To Conservative Group  Talking Points Memo   ..."In 2014 Microsoft decided to no longer participate in the American Legislative Exchange Council's Communications and Technology Task Force, which had been our only previous involvement with ALEC," the software company said in a statement, per CNET...
Fresno Business Groups Vow To Fight Bill On Labor Violations  Fresno Bee   ...A bill that would punish California employers for labor violations committed by their subcontractors is being called unnecessary by Fresno business groups. Assembly Member Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, introduced Assembly Bill 1897 as a way to hold employers accountable for serious worker's rights violations such as wage theft...
(Not) The Leader of the Pack: Wisconsin and Her Neighbors  Econbrowser   ...Only the disastrous trajectory of Kansas’s economy makes Wisconsin’s performance look tolerable...
OPINION: Hoosier workers not gaining on the nation  Indiana Economic Digest   ...From May 2003 to the same month in 2013, Hoosier wages rose by 19 percent, while median wages rose by 25 percent nationally...
Change In State House Could Put Right To Work Back On Table, McClure Says  Albuquerque Business First   ...This year, the New Mexico House of Representatives could be in line for a change this fall, and if that happens, some major initiatives – including right-to-work – could be on the table...
Want To Raise The Minimum Wage? Take It To The Ballot.  Fortune   ...“A higher minimum wage is incredibly poplar,’ says David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute. “If legislature is not being responsive to the public’s desires, advocates are going the ballot measure route because it’s been successful.”...
Labor Organizing Underway At Boeing, MUSC Despite Anti-Union Climate In S.C.  Charleston City Paper   ...It is famously difficult to start a union in South Carolina. The state has the third-lowest union participation rate in the country, with just 4.7 percent of workers represented by unions. Part of the reason has to do with the Palmetto State's right-to-work laws, which prevent an employer from making an agreement with a union to only hire unionized workers...
War On Workers
Hoxie Crash Highlights Railroad Safety Issues  Arkansasmatters.com   ...A railroad crash investigator says the most recent head-on crash in northeast Arkansas is symptomatic of an industry struggling to adapt new safety regulations...
Whose Presidential Campaign Will Your Pension Finance?  Nation of Change   ...last week, the GOP filed a federal lawsuit aimed at overturning the pay-to-play law that bars those governors from raising campaign money from Wall Street executives who manage their states’ pension funds...
How Starbucks Grinds Its Workers  New York Magazine   ...If Starbucks employees like Navarro could quit, or could refuse to work insane shifts on short notice, or could demand more accommodation of their needs, they would. They can’t. So they don’t...
New report details depth of hunger crisis in the United States  wsws.org   ...about one in seven in the US, 46 million people, rely on food banks in order to feed themselves and their families. The number includes 12 million children and 7 million senior citizens...
National Group Tries To Halt Union Election Of Personal Home Care Providers In Minnesota  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ... said at a hearing Tuesday that he’ll decide by noon whether to issue a temporary injunction that would halt an election, now in progress, to determine if nearly 27,000 personal home health care workers will be represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The injunction is being sought by the National Right to Work Foundation...
Miscellaneous
More than 50 UPS Stores across the US hit by cyber attack  Business Technology   ...UPS Store said credit and debit card details, names, addresses, and email addresses may have been stolen from payments between January 20th and August 11th this year...
We Just Witnessed A Historic Month For Commercial Aircraft Orders  Business Insider   ...People ordered a ton of airplanes in July...

Today's Teamster News 07.17.14

Teamster News
Horse and carriage drivers rally at City Hall, drop off 40,000 signatures supporting the industry  New York Daily News   ...Three months after the Daily News kicked off its campaign to stop de Blasio's proposed ban on the horse-drawn carriages, over 100 supporters rallied on de Blasio's door step to drop off five bags of signed petitions supporting the industry...
Hoffa: Sufficient Rest Key To Truck Driver Safety  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union today called for a renewed commitment by Congress to protect the driving public by keeping current hours of service rules in place to help prevent tragedies that are the result of driver fatigue...
Teamsters Ratify New Pipeline Agreement  IBT   ...An overwhelming majority of Teamster local unions that represent pipeline construction workers in the United States voted in favor of a new three-year contract, the Teamsters Union announced today. The contract covers about 4,000 Teamsters...
Teamsters Submit Comments On FAA Requirements For Drug Testing At Foreign Repair Stations  IBT   ...The Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) called for the implementation of a single standard of drug testing for airline mechanics in its comments submitted today to the FAA on its proposed rulemaking, (Docket No. FAA-2012-1058), for required drug testing at foreign repair stations...
Funeral Giant SCI Continues Mistreatment Of Chicago-Area Workers  IBT   ...Funeral giant Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) is once again mistreating its Chicago-area workers by proposing draconian, regressive changes while employing delay tactics and refusing to give Teamsters Local 727 a last, best and final offer for its membership to vote...
Oxford County Deputies Protest 'Low' Wages  Oxford Hills Sun Journal   ...Deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff's Office held a protest Tuesday morning to highlight their ongoing labor dispute with the county. Around 10 deputies and members of Teamsters Local 340 marched in front of the Oxford County Courthouse on Western Avenue to bring attention to the ongoing battle to raise their wages...
Trade
The TPP and Civil War  Counterpunch   ...While the poor, and what remains of the middle and the working classes, suffer defeat after defeat, the wealthy are hammering out yet another “free trade agreement.”...
To End Child Labor, Washington Must Press Companies to Act (opinion)  New York Times   ...Regulation and collective bargaining by independent unions free from political repression are the most important means to reduce child labor and other abuses in developing countries. Unfortunately the U.S. government has not put its enormous influence on the side of enforceable labor rights in the commercial agreements that it negotiates, fighting instead for the rights of patented drug companies and other corporations to exploit global monopolies. These priorities must be changed...
State Battles
Colorado Attorney General Files “Massive” Lawsuit Against Foreclosure Mills, Paving Way for Suits in Other States  naked capitalism   ...The Colorado case filed on Tuesday (embedded below) gives a detailed account of how the two largest foreclosure law firms in the state colluded to set prices on various services well above permissible levels, garnering as much as $97 million in ill-gotten gains since 2006...
Brownback Tax Cuts That Ravaged Surplus Hinder Re-Election Bid  Bloomerg   ...A policy that he promised would create an economic juggernaut produced a sinkhole. A projected $27 million surplus in fiscal 2015 is all that remains of $700 million two years ago, according to budget analysts. Job growth didn’t materialize, Moody’s Investors Service cut the state’s debt rating, former Republican Party chairwoman Rochelle Chronister called Brownback’s plan “ruinous” and “crazy” and 104 members of the party yesterday endorsed his Democratic opponent...
No outsourcing after taking WEDC money (opinion)  Racine Journal Times   ... at least two companies that received financial awards from the WEDC later outsourced jobs to foreign countries, with one of those companies receiving a second WEDC award after the fact...
War On Workers
US Port Strike Threat Highlights Supply Chain Risk  naked capitalism   ...Fears of a strike or lockout at the west coast ports that handle more than 40 per cent of all container imports to the US are disrupting businesses’ supply chains, as shippers anticipating a stoppage divert cargo to Canadian ports...
A Rare Win For The Unions? Staples Abandons Postal Service Trial  Wall Street Journal   ...The labor movement hasn’t had the best 2014 so far, with a bruising defeat for the UAW in its attempts to organize auto workers in the South, and an ominous Supreme Court ruling for public sector unions. But today, the American Postal Workers Union and its allies seem to be making progress in an important battle...
FBI warns driverless cars could be used as 'lethal weapons'  The Guardian   ...Google’s driverless car may remain a prototype, but the FBI believes the “game changing” vehicle could revolutionise high-speed car chases within a matter of years. The report also warned that autonomous cars may be used as "lethal weapons"...
Miscellaneous
Study Urges Pay Increase For Jersey's 'Tipped' Workers  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...New Jersey's servers, bellhops, and bartenders earn lower hourly wages than their counterparts in Pennsylvania and Delaware, pushing them into poverty, according to a report released Wednesday...

Proposed: Outrageous trick to hide the offshoring of U.S. jobs

The federal government is proposing an outrageous trick to hide the number of good U.S. jobs that are being sent overseas.

They are trying to sneak through a proposal that would reclassify U.S. corporations that offshored U.S. jobs as “factoryless goods” manufacturers.

Just by changing the data, the proposal would make it seem that our massive manufacturing trade deficit doesn't exist. The reason for it is to dampen opposition to more-of-the-same job-killing trade pacts like the TPP. It would wipe out the most compelling evidence that we urgently need a new American trade policy.

Here's how it would work. The Apple iPhone is assembled in China by a firm called Foxconn. Under this deceitful proposal, Foxconn would be considered a "manufacturing service provider." The phone wouldn't be an import when it's shipped to the United States. Apple would be considered a "factoryless manufacturer." And when an iPhone is exported from China to Germany, for example, it would be counted as a U.S. manufactured export to Germany.

By hiding the damage done by NAFTA and the China WTO deal, this proposal is designed to make it easier to pass job-killing trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA). Negotiations are underway for both.

The San Diego Newsroom is horrified by the proposal:

Since NAFTA went into effect in 1994, the U. S. has generated the highest trade deficit in the world and the largest in the world's recorded history. If you add the annual trade deficit in goods as shown on the Census Bureau website, the total is a staggering figure of -$10.347 trillion. 

The United States now has a trade deficit with 88 countries according to data in the book, Buying Back America. Some deficits are small, but some are enormous. Our top six trading partners of Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, and South Korea represent 64% of our total trade deficit. In 2013, our total trade deficit in goods was $688.4 billion, of which China represented 46% at $318.4 billion. However, our 20-year total trade deficit with China since 1994 is a staggering -$3.287 trillion. 

Now, the current Administration wants to cover up the evidence of the damage to our economy by changing the rules of how a manufacturer is defined instead of responding to the American public's demand to know where products are manufactured so they can have the freedom to choose whether or not to buy "Made in USA" products.

You can help fight this outrageous proposal by emailing John.Burns.Murphy@census.gov to tell him what you think of it. The deadline for comments is July 21.

Today's Teamster News 07.05.14

Teamsters
Liberal’s Martinez meets Teamsters’ President  Leader & Times   ...Local union representative and state delegate Tony Martinez, Liberal, Kans., who is with Union Pacific Railroad, recently travelled to Las Vegas for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Convention to elect a president of the railroad division...
City settles 2-year contract with Teamsters union representing Community Maintenance Department workers  The Herald News   ...Teamsters Local Union 251, which represents Community Maintenance Department employees, has settled a two-year contract with the city that nets workers a 5 percent wage increase...
Trade
4th of July fireworks brought to you by China  Politico   ...The industry’s shift to Chinese production came about shortly after the United States and China reestablished trade ties in 1979. By the early 1990s, the country was generating more than $60 million in annual sales from pyrotechnic exports to the United States. By 2013, the United States was importing $213 million worth of fireworks — virtually all from China...
Let’s Just Pretend We Didn’t Offshore Manufacturing  Public Citizen   ...Under the proposal, U.S. firms that have offshored their production abroad – like Apple – would become “factoryless goods” manufacturers.  The foreign factories that actually manufacture the goods – like the notorious iPhone-producing Foxconn factories in China – would no longer be manufacturers, but “service” providers for the rebranded “manufacturing” firms like Apple...
Who is Foreign Aid For? Foreigners or U.S. Corporations?  Mish's Global Economic Analysis   ...The United States will withhold the Millennium Challenge Compact aid deal, approximately $277 million in aid, unless El Salvador purchases genetically-modified seeds from biotech giant, Monsanto...
War on Workers
Paying Employees to Stay, Not to Go  New York Times   ...In-N-Out Burger, the chain based in California, pays all its employees at least $10.50 an hour, while Shake Shack, the trendy, lines-out-the-door burger emporium, has minimum pay of $9.50. Moo Cluck Moo, a fledgling company with two hamburger joints in Michigan, starts everyone at $15. These companies’ founders were intent on paying their workers more than the going rate partly because they wanted to do the right thing, they said, and partly because they thought this would help their companies thrive long term...
The Recovery Turns Five, Part 2  Economic Policy Institute   ...The unemployment rate is between 1.2 and 1.7 times as high now as it was seven years ago for all age, education, occupation, industry, gender, and racial and ethnic groups. ..
58% of Jobs Created in 2014 Pay Over $24 an Hour  The Big Picture   ...More than half the jobs created in 2014 so far pay more than $24.45 an hour...
EPIC Challenges Facebook's Manipulation of Users, Files FTC Complaint  EPIC   ...EPIC has filed a formal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission concerning Facebook's manipulation of users' News Feeds for psychological research...
CIA employee’s quest to release information ‘destroyed my entire career’  Washington Post   ...He was confronted by supervisors and accused of mishandling classified information while assembling his FOIA request. His house was raided by the FBI and his family’s computers seized. Stripped of his job and his security clearance, Scudder said he agreed to retire last year after being told that if he refused, he risked losing much of his pension...

US bank hires offshore call center to lie to customers on the road to foreclosure

A Bank of America customer service representative in India told a borrower his name was Brian (it's Sunil), then lied to him again about his loan. Bank of America then foreclosed on the borrower's home after months of delays, lost paperwork, misleading advice and discussions with 40 different customer service representatives.

Counterpunch has the story about the borrower, a retired Montana accountant, and his wife, Abraham and Betty Morrow. They are suing the Bank of America for fraud. They claim the bank deliberately misled them into foreclosing on their home. One reason the couple has a shot is that Abraham took meticulous notes of his conversations with customer service representatives.

According to Counterpunch,

One early conversation took place on Dec. 8, 2009. It was with a Bank of America representative who identified himself as “Brian.” Morrow said “Brian” told him that he and his wife were locked in for a loan modification program. If they successfully made reduced trial payments for three to four months, Morrow said he was told, their loan modification would be made permanent. 

After the whole thing unraveled and the Morrows filed suit, one of the defenses made by Bank of America was that, according to its records, Morrow had not spoken with anyone by the name of Brian on the date in question. On Dec. 8, 2009, the bank said, Morrow spoke with a customer service representative in India by the name of Sunil Kumar. 

(The Morrows' lawyer John) Heenan later deposed Kumar by telephone. Heenan said Kumar told him, “We all use American names” when speaking with customers. 

And what American name did Kumar use? “Brian,” he told Heenan.

That wasn't the worst of it.

The Morrows had run into financial trouble when the buyer of their business defaulted on payments to them. They tried to modify their mortgage loan with Bank of America, but couldn't. They were told to skip payments so they'd qualify for a loan modification -- then they'd get calls from collection agencies. They submitted paperwork, then were it was lost and to resubmit it again.  They were sent letters by the bank and then told by the bank's customer service representatives to ignore the letters. They applied for a loan modification and waited for 10 months before they got an answer.

And the bank's defense? Abraham Morrow had never talked to a customer service representative named Brian!

The Morrows' case now goes to trial.

Read the whole story here.

Today's Teamster News 04.11.14

Teamster News
After Protests, Teamsters Take Over An Art Fair  Crain's New York Business   ...After facing protests last year, the Randall's Island Art Fair has agreed to employ Teamsters and theater union members to set up tents and temporary galleries for the show that begins May 9...
Greece School District Teamsters Approve Contract   International Brotherhood of Teamsters   ...Teamsters Local 118 in Rochester, N.Y. is pleased to announce the ratification of a new four-year agreement with Greece Central School District...
North Las Vegas Teamsters, firefighters OK settlements with struggling city  Las Vegas Review-Journal   ...officials had settled with half of the city’s union heads for exactly $3.35 million — the settlement figure City Council members offered city Teamsters and firefighters early this month...
Starving Artists Fed Up; Seek To Establish Industry Standards With Teamsters Local 705  Digital Journal   ...Teamsters and artists may seem like an unlikely combination, but professional artists at Chicago's Mana Terry Dowd fine art packers and movers are organizing in an effort to establish income and benefit standards in their profession...
Polk Township Road Crew Workers Ratify Teamster Contract  Gnomes   ...Road crew workers employed by Polk Township, PA have recently voted for their first Teamster contract and to be represented by Teamsters Local 773 in Allentown...
Trade
H&M calls for faster factory inspections in Bangladesh  Reuters   ...Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Thursday Bangladesh needed to speed up inspections of its garment industry, almost a year after the collapse of a factory that killed more than 1,100 people...
U.S. Claims Country Building Its Own Network to Protect Against NSA Spying Violates Trade Laws  Washington's Blog   ...The U.S. is trying to not only protect U.S. businesses, but also keep the NSA’s hand in the cookie jar by arguing (wait for it…) that closing borders to the NSA would violate trade law...
State Battles
Corker, Haslam Subpoenaed By UAW For Volkswagon Appeal  Talking Points Memo   ...The United Auto Workers on Wednesday subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R), along with 18 other officials, for the union's challenge of the Chattanooga, Tenn. Volkswagon plant workers' vote to reject unionization, the Associated Press reported...
New Rule Prohibits Voters In Miami-Dade County From Using The Restroom, No Matter How Long The Line  ThinkProgress   ...Earlier this year, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department quietly implemented a policy to close the bathrooms at all polling facilities...
War on Workers
Getting Walmart Workers Off Food Stamps Would Cost Customers Barely Anything  Huffington Post   ...Would you be willing to spend one penny more for a box of macaroni and cheese if it meant that Walmart workers would no longer need food stamps to survive? Because that's all it would cost, according to an analysis by American Public Media’s Marketplace...
Koch Brothers Received Millions In Obamacare Subsidies  ThinkProgress   ...Charles and David Koch may have spent millions of dollars opposing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, but that didn’t stop them from benefiting from the law to the tune of $1.4 million in subsidies...
Billionaires Score Big Win With McCutcheon Decision  Truthout   ...The Supreme Court’s McCutcheon ruling dealt another 5-4 body blow to our democracy...
The NCAA Makes Billions and Student Athletes Get None of It  StudentNation   ...Despite devoting forty to sixty hours per week to their sport most of the year, Division I football players lack basic economic rights under the NCAA’s cartel restrictions...
Do You Know Where Your Government Uniform Was Made?  The Nation   ...Despite some laudatory local and state efforts, taxpayer dollars are still being used to purchase clothes made in sweatshops...
The Worst Cash Rip-Off Since Bank Fees? Behold an Infuriating New Scheme to Sap Your Money  AlterNet   ...If prepaid debit cards sound too good to be true, it's because they're a scam. Here's the hidden truth behind them...
Family Dollar to cut jobs, shut 370 stores as sales fall  Reuters   ...The discount retailer, which caters to lower income shoppers--many of whom live from paycheck to paycheck, said it would it would cut jobs, shut hundreds of underperforming stores and slash prices...
Uninsured Greek patients with contagious diseases are being left untreated, voluntary health clinic warns EnetEnglish ...One health clinic in Greece warned that uninsured patients have contagious and serious diseases but are left untreated due to austerity...
Miscellaneous
Senator Durbin Asks For IG Investigation into Federal Agency's Oversight of Trucking Companies With a History of Violations  eNews Park Forest   ...U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General (IG) to audit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s investigative practices after a report that the FMCSA ordered, but never actually launched, an investigation into an Illinois motor carrier with a long history of violating safety rules...

Zombie neighborhoods: Legacy of the death of the middle class

The abandoned Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio

Once thriving middle-class neighborhoods are now being invaded by zombies: foreclosed homes and shopping malls that suck the life out of living neighborhoods.

Back in the day, when wages were higher and many more workers enjoyed union protection, neighborhoods grew and improved. Now they're shrinking and falling into disrepair as wages fall, the cost of living rises and good manufacturing jobs are replaced by low-wage retail and fast-food employment.

The death of the middle class means living dead homes. According to Realty Trac:

One in every five homes in the foreclosure process is sitting vacant, abandoned by the distressed homeowner and not yet repossessed by the foreclosing lender. With no one to maintain them, these zombie foreclosures are falling into disrepair, attracting vandalism and other crime and dragging down the values of nearby homes in the neighborhood.

Florida has five housing markets in the top 10 for housing foreclosures. The state has 140,000 homes in zombie mode.

Neighbors in Ormond Beach, Fla., are trying to put a stake through the heart of zombie homes. Bay News 9 reported:

The group is targeting homes that are abandoned and decaying, with so much overgrowth they are hard to look at. 

"It is an eyesore and it is exactly a zombie home because we don't even know at this point who owns the homes," said Rita Press, president of Citizens for Ormond Beach. 

"I think it's gonna lower the property values if they see a rundown house," said neighbor Joe Puccino.

Unfortunately, the best solution may be to bulldoze the homes.

... full demolition. A recent study sponsored by Harvard University of zombie foreclosures in Cleveland concluded that “gut rehab” done for decades by community development organizations is “not financially viable for most Cleveland neighborhoods,” and instead “demolition will likely remain the predominant means of blight removal and market stabilization.”

When the neighborhoods go, so do the shopping malls. Matt Stopera at Buzzfeed reported zombie malls are popping up all over the country. He featured photos of 10 living dead shopping malls that were gathered on the Dead Malls Enthusiasts Facebook page.

Here's Crestwood Mall in St. Louis, which will likely be sold and razed (via Facebook: UrbanExplorationUS / Via architecturalafterlife.com)

Here's the Hawthorne Plaza Mall in Hawthorne, Calif. (via Reddit.com):

And here's the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Ill., which has been demolished (via Detroiturbex.com):

This is what the Dixie Square Mall looked like during the filming of 'Blues Brothers' (via Universal Pictures / Via dailymail.co.uk):

To see all the zombie malls on Buzzfeed, click here. And remember, this is what the death of the middle class looks like. 

Today's Teamster News 12.24.13

Just a reminder we will resume posting Teamster News on Monday, Dec. 30.

U.S. Flouts Its Own Advice in Procuring Overseas Clothing  New York Times   ...One of the world’s biggest clothing buyers, the United States government spends more than $1.5 billion a year at factories overseas, acquiring everything from the royal blue shirts worn by airport security workers to the olive button-downs required for forest rangers and the camouflage pants sold to troops on military bases...
PBS Drops a Bombshell on the Federal Reserve’s 100th Birthday Party  Wall Street on Parade   ...two famous stock market historians made the same stunning announcement – that the Fed has decided its job is to push up the stock market...
Holiday sales down for third week  Associated Press   ...After a strong start to the holiday shopping season, sales at stores have fallen for the third consecutive week as Americans continue to hold back on spending during what is traditionally the busiest buying period of the year...
Retail Traffic Plunges By "Staggering" 21% In Week Before Christmas  zero hedge   ...the "eroding middle class can no longer drive activity as it has in the past"...
Charts: The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Since the Depression  Mother Jones   ...The economic downturn remains in full effect for millions of Americans, particularly the nearly 40 percent of the unemployed who have been looking for work for six months or more. In less than a week, emergency federal unemployment benefits for 1.3 million of these jobless Americans are set to run out...
Phoenix Becomes First City To End Chronic Homelessness Among Veterans  ThinkProgress   ...Three years ago, city officials identified 222 homeless veterans living in Phoenix. Using both state and federal funds, the city had successfully housed the last veterans who were living without homes. ..
FALSE: Gov. Scott Walker says protesters surrounded his car, blocked his exit and rocked the vehicle after a 2011 appearance in La Crosse  Politifact   ...Based on the available information, we think the book’s depiction of what happened -- an organized effort to prevent Walker from leaving that placed him in direct danger -- is False...
De Blasio Hires Goldman Sachs Exec To Make City More Affordable  gothamist   ...For all his campaign bluster against the two cities New York has become, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio isn't exactly shying away from some of the people who helped make it that way...

Today's Teamster News 12.15.13

Are Young Workers the Future of Labor?  In These Times   ...nearly two-thirds of 18–29-year olds have a favorable impression of unions, more than any other age bracket. The time is ripe for labor leaders to bring the next generation into the fold...
FAMILY Act: 'Good for Everyone'  AFL-CIO Now   ...The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, introduced today by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), will "grant families access to the paid leave they so desperately need" and "improve job security for all families who have to choose between caring for a family member and a paycheck at times of greatest stress..."
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial  Rolling Stone   ...the subprime bubble exploded because financial companies and banks were in a mad rush to get as many iffy borrowers into loans as quickly as possible – and not because they were forced to...
Wikileaks TPP Revelations Prove US in "Left Field" With Trade Deal  The Real News   ...The revelations demonstrate deep disagreement between the United States and negotiating parties on the issues of intellectual property, agricultural subsidies, and financial services...
Don’t Get Too Excited About the Volcker Rule  The Nation   ...The real solution will not come until another Congress or a new president find the courage to break them up, cut them down to size and restore the old Glass-Steagall division of commercial banking from investment banking...
Nike and Levi’s Working to Kill U.S. Jobs and Industry  Trade Reform   ...They have a few white collar and design jobs in the U.S., but make their money by moving production from the U.S. to elsewhere… taking entire industries and communities in the process...
The War Over Austerity Is Over. Republicans Won.  Mother Jones   ... In their first budget after re-taking the majority—the FY 2012 Ryan budget, passed in 2011—the House Republicans wanted discretionary spending to be $1.039 trillion in 2014 and $1.047 trillion in 2015…. this proposed deal with the Democrats would put discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion in 2014 and $1.014 trillion in 2015...
Telling Fast Food Workers To 'Get A Better Job' Is Nonsense, In 1 Chart  Huffington Post   ...For every job that pays a median wage of at least $15 an hour there are 7 job seekers...

How tech companies abuse visas to hire cheap foreign labor, offshore jobs

The H-1B visa program lets high-tech companies like Microsoft bring foreign workers to America and pay them less than they'd pay qualified U.S. citizens.

Defenders of the program say it recruits the best and brightest from overseas, allowing U.S. firms to develop innovative technology.

That's baloney.

Foreign students in computer science now working in the U.S. are on average less talented than Americans, according to a study released in February by the Economic Policy Insttitute. But they are cheaper.

The EPI study concluded:

...employers prefer to hire foreign workers over similarly qualified U.S. workers, because legal loopholes in how the “prevailing wage” is calculated let them save on labor costs. The H-1B visa also ties workers to their employer, effectively rendering them captive for the duration of their visa. 

What's worse, U.S. employers don't even have to try to hire qualified Americans for high-tech jobs before hiring someone from overseas.

And there's something even more sinister at work:  the H-1B worker learns the job and then rotates back to the home country and takes the work with him, another EPI report found. The top 10 companies using H-1B visas ALL have major operations overseas.

Last week, Indian technology company Infosys paid a $34 million settlement to the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged H-1B visa fraud, according to ABC News. Prosecutors say Infosys,

...unlawfully used H-1B visa holders to fill skilled labor jobs that the Justice Department says would "otherwise be performed by U.S. citizens or require legitimate H-1B visa holders."  

Here are the top 10 recipients of H-1B visas in the US:

1. Cognizant. H1-B Visas Received: 17,964
2. Tata Consultancy. H1-B Visas Received: 9,083
3. Wipro. H1-B Visas Received: 8,726
4. Infosys. H1-B Visas Received: 6,550
5. Accenture. H1-B Visas Received: 5,799
6. Microsoft. H1-B Visas Received: 4,766
7. IBM. H1-B Visas Received: 3,770
8. Larsen & Toubro. H1-B Visas Received: 3,286
9. HCL. H1-B Visas Received: 3,074
10. Deloitte. H1-B Visas Received: 2,850

Only three of them -- Microsoft, IBM and Deloitte -- are headquartered in the U.S.

Yeah, we're pretty steamed about it too.

Today's Teamster News 09.21.13

Striking railroad Teamsters ordered back to work, no single operators allowed  TeamsterNation   ...An Akron, Ohio, district court judge this afternoon ordered striking locomotive engineers and trainmen at the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway back to work. He also ordered the railroad to refrain from allowing supervisors or management to operate trains...
Warehouse Workers At IKEA Vote To Join Teamsters  teamster.org   ...Warehouse workers, employed at the IKEA distribution center in Frederickson, Wash., have voted to join Teamsters Local 117. The 64 workers at the facility came together seeking job security, fair and equal treatment, strong representation, and respect...
Hoffa, Brune: Trade Is Good When It's Fair  teamster.org   ...It's been almost 20 years since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and families and communities are still reeling from its consequences...
Teamsters Picket Rochester Wegmans  teamster.org   ...Wegmans-picketing Teamsters from Local 118 are calling on their employer to protect good jobs in Rochester and stop retaliating against employees for standing up for their rights under Federal law. Today the union will file an unfair labor practice charge against Wegmans due to the company’s actions against employees...
Sullivan settles five-year contract with Teamsters  Mid-Hudson News   …Ratifying a new contract was a tossup among members Teamsters Local 445 who work for Sullivan County in New York. The union narrowly agreed to the new five-year deal by a 152 to 141 vote...
Teamster Women Get Fired Up  teamster.org  ...Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall addressed the Women’s Conference on Friday, the second day of the annual event, in New Orleans. Get the full coverage of the conference here... |
Rural/Metro Files Two Critical Documents—Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement  teamster.org   ...Rural Metro filed two critical documents outlining how the company plans to emerge from bankruptcy on Sunday, September 15. Those documents are the Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement...
ABF Teamster Wins National Four-Axle Competition Championship  Teamsters Local 492   ...Teamster and Albuquerque ABF Line Driver Ralph Garcia won first place in the four-axle competition at the 2013 National Truck Driving Championships, which was held in Salt Lake City late August...
Labor Leaders React to Hotel Latest  Tristate   ...The Southwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council said Thursday it stands in full support of the proposed downtown hotel. Chuck Whobrey, president of Teamsters Local 215, wasn't at the meeting, but said the hotel is necessary for downtown redevelopment...
Employers cut jobs in 20 US states in August  Associated Press   ...Unemployment rates rose in 18 states, fell in 17 and were unchanged in 15...
Target to Hire 18,000 Fewer Seasonal Workers This Holiday Season; Expect Other Retailers to Do the Same  Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis   ..."Target lowered their expectations for the rest of the year, citing a tougher-than-expected spending environment..."
L.A. homeless hired to buy latest iPhones  USA Today   ...Many driven from Skid Row to Pasadena say they were unpaid and stranded after Apple Store halted scheme...
GOP's misguided attack on food stamps (opinion)  Los Angeles Times   ...Unable to push a $20-billion cut in food stamps through the House in June, Republicans are now seeking to cut $40 billion over 10 years by tightening eligibility and cutting off able-bodied adults who don't find or train for jobs. ...But while it may motivate some idle adults to get to work, it would also punish those who simply can't find jobs at a time when there are three applicants for every opening...
Offshoring Linked to Declining U.S. Labor Share, Likely to Continue  Brookings   ...The decline in the U.S. labor share – now at its lowest level in the post-war period after the Great Recession – has been concentrated in sectors that face increased import competition in the wake of the overall rising role of imports in the U.S. economy, according to a new paper presented today at the Fall 2013 Conference on the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA)...
LinkedIn Customers Allege Company Hacked E-Mail Addresses  Bloomberg   ...LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD), owner of the world’s most popular professional-networking website, was sued by customers who claim the company appropriated their identities for marketing purposes by hacking into their external e-mail accounts and downloading contacts’ addresses...
Unions launch offensive against potential government shutdown  Washington Post   ...Federal employee unions, having guided their members through government shutdown threats in 2011 and 2012, are arming for another possible shutdown in 11 days if Congress cannot resolve its partisan fiscal battle...
Contractor that vetted Snowden says it also ran background check for Navy Yard shooter  Washington Post   ...USIS, the Falls Church, VA government contractor that handled the background check for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, said Thursday that it also vetted Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis for his ­secret-level clearance in 2007...
Arkansas lawmakers back cuts to food stamp program  KATV ABC 7   ...Arkansas' four congressmen have voted to cut nearly $4 billion a year from the food stamp program, a 5 percent reduction to the nation's main feeding program used by more than 1 in 7 Americans...
Ex-Halliburton manager charged in Gulf of Mexico spill probe  Associated Press   ...A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company...
Chase Bank, JPMorgan Chase to refund customers $309 million for unfair billing  Sacramento Bee   ...Federal regulators on Thursday ordered Chase Bank and JPMorgan Chase to refund $309 million to more than 2 million customers for illegally billing them for credit-monitoring services they never received...
Federal Reserve Program Is Socialism For The Rich  firedoglake   ...Why is there such a gap between the haves and the have-nots? Probably because the Federal Reserve is pumping up assets for the haves to the tune of $85 billion, a month...
Elites’ strange plot to take over the world  Salon   ...Western elites in America and Western Europe after World War II made a serious effort to get rid of nations altogether, and combine all “freedom-loving peoples” into one giant “Atlantic Union,” a federal state built on top of the NATO military alliance...
Don't take ax to public's right to know (opinion) The Cap Times   ...If Wisconsinites were looking for a measure of how far out of control things have gotten under Gov. Scott Walker’s hyperpartisan approach to governing, they need look no further than an incident involving a key confidante of the governor and a process server seeking to deliver paperwork related to the state’s open records law...

Today's Teamster News 07.07.13

Scores Missing after Oil-Laden Train Explosion Rocks Small Town  Common Dreams   ...Reportedly, there was no one on board the train as the oil-laden cars were being "remotely operated..."
'Surreal' escape: How survivors fled badly damaged Asiana Flight 214  NBC News   ...In all, there were 307 people on board the Asiana flight, 291 passengers and 16 crew. Authorities said 182 people were hospitalized, including 49 with serious injuries. Hospitals reported that the injuries included burns, fractures and cuts...
Don’t Get Too Excited About Today’s Jobs Data  Bloomberg   ... it would take four more years of job gains at the current pace of 195,000 per month to completely close the gap that began opening at the end of 2007...
The Part-Timer Problem  The American Prospect   ...Delaying the employer mandate may mean fewer firms will cut workers’ hours—but the rise of part-time work will continue nonetheless...
After Ruling, States Rush to Enact Voting Laws  New York Times   ...State officials across the South are aggressively moving ahead with new laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls after the Supreme Court decision striking down a portion of the Voting Rights Act...
Even After One of Worst Worker Atrocities in Human History, Gap & Walmart Won't Get Serious About Preventing Another   Alternet   ...Should the government of Bangladesh or the companies that sell products manufactured in the country be held responsible for working conditions?...
In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of N.S.A.  New York Times   ...In more than a dozen classified rulings, the nation’s surveillance court has created a secret body of law giving the National Security Agency the power to amass vast collections of data on Americans while pursuing not only terrorism suspects, but also people possibly involved in nuclear proliferation, espionage and cyberattacks, officials say...
The NSA's mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians  The Guardian   ...As it does in many non-adversarial countries, the surveillance agency is bulk collecting the communications of millions of citizens of Brazil...
City Unions: Wall Street Looted Oakland   East Bay Express   ...A new report alleges that big banks gouged Oakland taxpayers of nearly $500 million over the past sixteen years as the city has been forced to dramatically cut public services...
Las Vegas Suburb Accused of Plotting to Seize 5,000 Homes with Eminent Domain to Flip Them for a Profit  Alternet   ...The City of North Las Vegas is endangering its financial status with a cockeyed plan to seize up to 5,000 homes through eminent domain, buy them with public money and flip them, a man claims in court...

Today's Teamster News 07.01.13

New Study Shows 1/3 of Jobs Prone to Offshore Outsourcing  Economic Populist   ...The occupational groups identified as being vulnerable to offshoring include office support (e.g., data entry and payroll clerks), auditors and tax preparers, computer programmers and software engineers, medical transcriptionists and paralegals, and technical writers...
Without full-time jobs, workers flock to temp towns  Salon   ...Short-term work has become a mainstay of the American economy, intensifying the rise in income inequality...
An Unstoppable Climb in C.E.O. Pay  New York Times   ...the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million — a leap of 16 percent from 2011. ..
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy  Salon   ...Stop claiming a factory boom will save the country and lift people up. Here's what these jobs really look like...
Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations  The Guardian   ...The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials...
New Bank of America whistle-blower emerges: More customer abuse secrets  Salon   ...Bank of America whistle-blower details latest scheme to abuse homeowners, evade settlement rules and pocket cash...
MF Global and Wall Street: Whose Job Is It To Take the Keys Away (opinion)  Wall Street On Parade   ...Isn’t it the job of Congress to pass laws to ensure that checks and balances exist that prevent powerful men from gaming the system and dipping into customer funds to make casino bets...
War On the Unemployed (opinion)  New York Times   ...there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable...
Protests overshadow football final in Brazil  al-Jazeera   ...Protesters hurling petrol bombs have clashed with riot police in Brazil at the Confederations Cup football match, overshadowing the host nation's victory over world champions Spain in the final...
SCI Rejects Last and Best Offer from Teamsters  Benzinga   ...Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International ... rejected a last and best offer from Teamsters Local 727 and countered with its original proposal to eliminate the employees' pension, health and educational assistance benefits...

Today's Teamster News 06.29.13

China Factory Resolution Reached, US Businessman Released  NTD Television   ...A U.S. executive and his Chinese workers who held him captive for six days reached a resolution to a row about pay on Thursday...
U.S. Trade Deficit with China Underestimated According to New Study of "Value-Added Trade." manufacture this   ...A new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that, after accounting for net trade flows, the U.S. trade deficit with China is greater than has been suggested by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO)...
Chinese wind-turbine firm charged with stealing US trade secrets  The Guardian   ...Sinovel Wind Group and two of its executives were indicted in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday. A former employee of the Massachusetts-based American Superconductor (AMSC) pleaded guilty in Klagenfurt, Austria, to stealing a source code for turbine controllers...
The 18-year-old voice of Chile's nationwide student uprising  The Guardian   ...On Wednesday, Moisés Paredes helped organise a march of 100,000 protesters through the streets of Chile's capital, Santiago, calling for free university education...
Poor, middle class unite in Brazil protests  CNN   ... What started as a student mobilization transformed day by day to incorporate professionals, the middle class, and residents of the favelas, or slums...
Troops allegedly misled by car loan program to get refunds  McClatchy   ...U.S. Bank and a Kentucky-based financial services provider agreed to refund $6.5 million to 50,000 military service members after federal regulators accused both companies of misleading borrowers about fees and costs associated with an auto loans program that targeted active-duty troops...
Bank of America Said to Send Property Reviews to India  Bloomberg   ...Bank of America Corp. opened a unit in India to review home-valuation reports as it seeks to rebuild share in U.S. mortgages at a lower cost ... The firm also eliminated jobs of licensed U.S. workers in its LandSafe business...
Senators accuse government of using 'secret law' to collect Americans' data  The Guardian   ...Bipartisan group seeks answers from intelligence chief James Clapper over scale of and justification for NSA surveillance...
Forced to Work Sick? That's Fine With Disney, Red Lobster, and Their Friends at ALEC  Mother Jones   ...The Florida law is the most recent in a series of victories by low-wage industries that, with the aid of Republican-led state legislatures, have succeeded in derailing or overriding measures providing this benefit to workers...
North Carolina Dropped From Federal Unemployment Program  Associated Press   ...With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless...
Here's the truth about Oregon's 'right-to-work' initiative: Guest opinion  The Oregonian   ...So-called right-to-work laws have nothing to do with anyone being forced to be a member of a union or to support political causes he or she disagrees with...
Teamsters praise passage of enterprise zone reform  Teamsters Joint Council 7  ...Teamsters Joint Council 7 hailed passage Thursday of Assembly Bill 93 by the California Assembly and Senate.  The bill restructures a $750 million job creation program towards manufacturing employers that create jobs with demonstrable economic benefits for workers and California’s most impoverished communities...
Sun-Times refuses union advertising  Teamsters Joint Council 25   ...On June 26, the Chicago Sun-Times refused to run an advertisement from unionized funeral directors employed by Service Corporation International (NYSE:  SCI) which appealed to the public for help in their contract negotiations with the $3 billion corporation...
Religious leaders pledge support in face of possible funeral labor dispute   Teamsters Joint Council 25   ... Religious leaders throughout the Chicago area have pledged their support for funeral directors and drivers whose employer, Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), is forcing to the brink of a labor dispute...
Teamsters, UPS agree to extend current UPS national contract  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union and UPS have agreed to an extension of the current UPS National Master Agreement and all Supplements, Riders and Addenda. The extension does not have a specific end date, but can be terminated by either side with a 30-day notice...
Teamsters Union issues statement on Senate passage of immigration bill  IBT   ... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters supports a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented men and women already living and working in this country. Keeping these workers in the shadows would continue their exploitation and the downward pressure on wages and labor standards. Bringing them out of the shadows is good policy...

Today's Teamster News 11.27.12

In 2010, America’s Median Wealth Was At Lowest Point Since 1969  ThinkProgress   ...income inequality has risen in almost every state over the last 30 years and that the middle class has just suffered its “worst decade in modern history.” Unfortunately, many of the jobs created since the Recession don’t pay well enough to make up for the collapse...
Photos Show Walmart Apparel at Site of Deadly Factory Fire in Bangladesh  The Nation   ...NGOs slammed Walmart over a fire that killed at least 112 workers at a Bangladesh factory that supplied apparel for the retail giant...
Why So Secretive? The Trans-Pacific Partnership as Global Coup  truthout   ...Dubbed by many as “NAFTA on steroids” and a “corporate coup,” only two of the TPP’s 26 chapters actually have anything to do with trade. Most of it grants far-reaching new rights and privileges to corporations, specifically related to intellectual property rights (copyright and patent laws), as well as constraints on government regulations...
Greece Kicks The Can For The Third Time - SocGen's Take: "More Will Be Needed"  zero hedge   ...It took the charming three tries for Greece to get its third "bailout", which incidentally does not bail out anyone except the hedge funds...
Scott Walker’s “I am not a crook” moment  Badger Democracy   ...There are several emails that make it abundantly clear that only one of two possibilities is true. Either Scott Walker lied today, or he is an incompetent fool duped by his campaign staff whom he had no control over. You decide…
Red Hook Brewery's parent firm settles with OSHA after probe of fatal accident  Manchester Union-Leader   ...Craft Brew Alliance Inc. has agreed to address numerous violations found by OSHA during a months-long investigation that followed the death of Ben Harris, 26, of Newington...Craft Brew Alliance has agreed to pay fines of $44,500 by Dec. 1, which is a modification of the original penalties totaling $63,500...
Las Vegas Teamsters beat Coke decertification attempt  People's World   ...Coca-Cola's attempt to get rid of the Teamsters and a union contract in Las Vegas fizzled out like so much bad soda...
Teamsters, Jobs with Justice Protest Bill Gates and Republic Services  IBT   ...Sanitation workers ask Bill Gates, primary owner of Republic/Allied Waste, to stop destroying their retirement security...

Today's Teamster News 11.26.12

Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened  Bloomberg   ...the U.S. has gone through two recoveries. The 1.2 million households whose incomes put them in the top 1 percent of the U.S. saw their earnings increase 5.5 percent last year, according to estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Earnings fell 1.7 percent for the 96 million households in the bottom 80 percent -- those that made less than $101,583...
CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks  Huffington Post   ...The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for the size of the deficit they now want closed. The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills...
Factory Fire Kills More Than 100 People in Bangladesh  New York Times News Service   ...an “ethical sourcing” official for Walmart flagged “violations and/or conditions which were deemed to be high risk” at the factory in May 2011, though it did not specify the nature of the infractions. The notice said that the factory had been given an “orange” grade and that any factories given three such assessments in two years from their last audit would not receive any orders from Walmart for one year...
Offshore secrets revealed: the shadowy side of a booming industry  Guardian   ...a worldwide joint investigation by the Guardian, the BBC's Panorama and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has uncovered a booming offshore industry that leaves the way open for both tax avoidance and the concealment of assets. More than 21,500 companies have been identified using this group of 28 so-called nominee directors...
NLRB Judge Rips 24-Hour Fitness Class Action Ban  Trial Insider   ... The fitness centers’  “arbitration policy unlawfully requires its employees to surrender core Section 7 [organizing] rights by imposing significant restraints on concerted action regardless of whether the employee opts to be covered by it or not...”
Catalans start voting in election that could lead to independence  Guardian   ...Catalonia has its own distinct language and culture, and many Catalans think they would be better off without Spain, because some estimates show they pay more in tax than they get back from Madrid...

Today's Teamster News 10.29.12

The American Economy On Purgatory Mountain  Economic Populist   ... It's not taxes, small government or big government, or even the deficit. The real problem are jobs going offshore, companies treating workers as disposable and the never ending race to the bottom on wages, global labor arbitrage...
A Part-Time Life, as Hours Shrink and Shift  New York Times   ...the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that the retail and wholesale sector, with a total of 18.6 million jobs, has cut a million full-time jobs since 2006, while adding more than 500,000 part-time jobs...
EU Bureaucracy has Lost Control of Italy; Social Mood Turns Black  Mish's Global Trend Economic Analysis   ...Northern Italy has been fermenting with protests and is becoming radical.  The paradox is that the rich part of the country is collapsing under the Euro and the EU driven austerity, crushed by competition from Germany, competition from Asia and other emerging region with weaker currencies and improving technology and skills and by high commodity and energy costs...
‘Anti-Business’ Obama Is Best President For Corporate Profits Since 1900  ThinkProgress   ...Even if corporate profits under Obama are compared to the 2008 peak — in order to erase the effect of the financial crisis — “average annual corporate profit growth under President Obama is 6.8%,” or nearly three times as large as it was under President Reagan...
Romney Auto Bailout Ad Tells Four Myths In 30 Seconds  ThinkProgress   ...Romney claimed he read a news story that said Chrysler was planning to “moving all production to China.” The Bloomberg News piece he referenced, though, made it clear that Fiat, the Italian company that now owns Chrysler, was opening new factories in China to make Jeeps for Chinese consumers. No American plants will be closed, and no American jobs will be lost...
New tools aid door-to-door push for votes  Boston Globe   ...A Teamster and UPS driver, Cote said he has been inundated with union literature urging him to vote for Obama. The Teamsters have their own microtargeting effort; the union president, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., who supports Obama, can be heard in a message on Cote’s answering machine. Cote is sympathetic to concerns that union interests could be undermined by a Romney presidency...

Today's Teamster News 10.10.12

Huge Donation To Romney SuperPAC From Foreign Firm Raises 'Red Flags' Center for Public Integrity   ...A million-dollar donation by a foreign-owned corporation to a Republican super PAC has raised legal concerns and opened up the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court decision to new criticism...
At Bain Capital-Owned Sensata Technologies, Arrests Ahead Of Layoffs And Plant Closing  Huffington Post   ...Three people protesting the closure of an Illinois plant run by a Bain Capital-owned company were arrested on Monday after an encounter with a truck driver hauling equipment out of the plant...
Hyatt Hurts: hotel workers organise global boycott for a fair deal  The Guardian   ...In a striking case of international solidarity, housekeeping staff worldwide are protesting their exploitation by the hotel giant...
A Bigger Paycheck on Wall Street  New York Times   ...compensation over all continues to rise even as some shareholders press firms to cut costs further amid weak profit growth. (Nearly half of all revenue on Wall Street is earmarked for compensation...
Billionaire CEO Threatens To Fire Employees If Obama Wins  ThinkProgress   ...David Siegel, who owns Florida-based Westgate Resorts, sent an email to all his employees yesterday to discuss the upcoming election…... He went on to say that although he “can’t tell you whom to vote for,” if Obama is re-elected, it would mean “fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone...”
Hostess to cream bakers soon  New York Post   ...Hostess — on its second trip through bankruptcy court after filing for Chapter 11 in January — won the legal right last week to force the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union to accept a proposed contract after its members overwhelmingly voted to reject it...

Workers want a visit from Romney as Bain ships their jobs to China

Democracy Now posts longer, more recent videos about workers at Bain-owned Sensata here. The workers are watching as their plant is dismantled and shipped to China. Bain, of course, was founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Democracy Now reports,

"Welcome to Bainport, a taste of the Romney economy." That’s the message on one of the banners that greets you at the tent city where we broadcast from in Freeport, Illinois. "Bainport" is an encampment set up by workers who face losing their livelihoods when their workplace closes its doors in November and moves to China, taking 170 jobs with it. The workers’ plant, Sensata Technologies, is owned by Bain Capital, the firm co-founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Democracy Now! first spoke to the Sensata workers when we met them at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, where they unsuccessfully tried to meet with Romney. Now, they have returned to Freeport and set up a protest camp in a bid to save their jobs.

Now we don't think Romney will go to Bainport. Not after Rep. Bobby Schilling fled from Sensata workers rather than tell them he opposed the "Bring Jobs Home Act." Here's the video:



Progress Illinois reported on Wednesday:

At a town hall meeting yesterday, Schilling couldn't take the heat when Sensata workers showed up to discuss the issue, so he ran out of the kitchen — or in this case the meeting.
When Tom Gaulrapp, one of the workers set to lose his job after working at the Bain Capital-owned company for 33 years, asked Schilling if he would support a bill that would offer companies tax incentives for bringing overseas jobs back to the U.S. and also close loopholes that allow corporations to ship American jobs overseas, like the Bring American Jobs Home Act, Schilling refused to answer and walked out of the meeting. But his campaign manager Terry Schilling essentially answered the question for the congressman by saying, "He said no. He does not support the bill."