Teamster News
Teamsters Local Union Ratifies New Agreement With Penn State Penn State News ...Members of Teamsters Local Union No. 8 employed by Penn State have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the University to replace the current agreement, which expired June 30. Teamsters Local Union No. 8 represents the bargaining unit consisting of approximately 2,600 technical-service employees at University locations throughout the Commonwealth...
Negotiations Continue Between EVSC And Teamsters WTVW ...While there is still no contract in hand, communication is still open between the EVSC and Teamsters Local 215 Union. ...The Teamsters Union is made up of bus drivers, custodians, and secretaries, or about 20 percent of the EVSC's staff...
Dubuque's unions name grand marshal for annual Labor Day parade KWWL.com ...This year, members of Dubuque's United Labor Participation Committee selected long-time local Teamsters leader Dave Baker as the parade's grand marshal...
Trade
China fines Japanese car parts firms for price-fixing BBC News ...he country's anti-monopoly regulator said the companies were found to have colluded to reduce competition. Japan's Sumitomo Electric and Mitsubishi Electric were among the firms that received the heaviest fines...
If America Won’t Invest in America’s Infrastructure, China Will manufacture this ...there is a big gap between eastern and western China in terms of transportation infrastructure. China will strengthen infrastructure construction in central and western areas while promoting exports in technology and high-speed railway and highway equipment. China is willing to join the United States in upgrading transportation infrastructure...
State Battles
WEDC is marketing industrial properties owned by Walker donors WKOW.com ...The only private properties being marketed through a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) land development program are owned by companies whose executives have donated extensively to the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)...
Group Backing Minimum Wage Hike Submits More Signatures Arkansas News ...A group seeking to place on the November ballot an initiated act to raise the state minimum wage submitted what it said were 69,070 additional signatures in support of the measure to the secretary of state’s office Monday...
San Diego Defies Mayor, Raises Minimum Wage CNN Money ...San Diego is the latest city to pass a minimum wage hike despite a veto from Mayor Kevin Faulconer. On Monday, the San Diego City Council overrode his veto to approve a gradual wage increase and paid sick days...
Students Appeal to 4th Circuit for Stay of Voter Suppression Law Camel City Dispatch ...On Monday Students who have filed suit against the state of North Carolina over new voter suppression legislation (HB589 which Republican messaging call a voter ID bill) have filed a notice of appeal of U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder’s August 8 ruling denying a stay of the new law, pending the 2014 elections...
War On Workers
Wendy's Worker Says She Was Fired For Being Sick Huffington Post ...A 6-year veteran Wendy's worker in Alabama is alleging that management fired her for "job abandonment" while she was being treated for an ovarian cyst that would require surgery...
Lawn Worker Killed By Vehicle On McIntosh Road WWSB ...Authorities are investigating the death of a lawn maintenance worker that was struck by a vehicle while he mowed along McIntosh Road Monday morning...
Outside Campaign Spending Jumps In 2014 The Hill ...Outside political groups are on track to eclipse their spending during the 2010 GOP wave election, but only a fraction of that money has been reported to the public. ... outside groups have spent $72 million on independent expenditures in nine Senate races, a pace set to exceed the $97 million that such groups spent on 37 Senate races in the 2010 cycle...
Showing posts with label political corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label political corruption. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.26.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Win Settlement For Taxi Driver Barred From Speaking At Public Meeting IBT ...Teamsters Local 922 scored a major victory for a D.C. taxi driver who will receive a monetary settlement as part of an agreement reached with the city after he was barred from speaking at a D.C. Taxi Commission (DCTC) meeting over concerns that his accent made him difficult to understand...
Hinckley Springs Employees Are Back At Work After 25-Day Strike Des Plaines Valley News ...Teamsters union members at the Hinckley Springs water bottling plant at 6055 S. Harlem Ave. in Chicago ended their 25-day strike on July 17. ...the workers felt the offer presented by DS Services of America Inc., which owns and operates the Hinckley Springs plants, was the best under the circumstances...
Trade
German NGO Says TTIP Will Undermine Global Food Security EurActiv ...The planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US threatens the concept of sustainable food security, the development NGO Brot für die Welt announced at a presentation of its annual report, in Berlin...
Ethiopia Becomes China’s China In Global Search For Cheap Labor Bloomberg News ...Huajian is nonetheless becoming a case study of Ethiopia’s emerging potential as a production center for labor-intensive products from shoes to T-shirts to handbags....
State Battles
Governor Rick Scott Shows What A Real Scandal Looks Like Time Magazine ...There’s nothing inherently wrong with government support for a train linking Miami and Orlando ... but it looks pretty sketchy after Governor Scott (at the urging of his conflicted chief of staff) rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail project that would have eventually linked Miami, Orlando and Tampa. ...
WEDC to hold its board meeting at China outsourcer Jake's Economic TA Funhouse ...Here's more on the absurdity of Gov Walker's quickly-backfiring ads against Trek bicycle. Walker's pet "jobs creator" organization, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), has its next Board meeting on Monday, and it's located at the headquarters of Briggs and Stratton Corporation in Wauwatosa...
On the stump, Hanaway calls for ‘right to work’, eliminating state income tax, and tort reform PoliticM ...Hanaway is the only announced Republican candidate for (Missouri) governor in 2016...
War On Workers
40-hour workweek just a memory, survey finds South Bend Tribune ...The "Take Back 60" study found that 88 percent of the 617 respondents who took the online survey last month said they work more than 40 hours a week...
Construction Worker On Fort Bragg Killed When Trench Caves In Fayetteville Observer ...Federal labor investigators are working to determine how a trench on Fort Bragg collapsed, killing a man Thursday morning...
Fired Walmart CEO to Get $4.5 Million To Leave Job 2 Paragraphs ...Walmart also suffers from some PR problems, given its much publicized low-wage workforce, an unsightly percentage of whom are also using government-funded food stamps to sustain themselves...
At 3 Years Old, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Gives Americans A Soapbox Huffington Post ...Despite vehement opposition, the CFPB continues to build on a solid track record that to date includes winning $4.6 billion in damages for 15 million consumers harmed by illegal practices. Included in that figure are major accomplishments, like forcing credit card companies to return $1.5 billion to consumers duped by add-on products and changing lending rules to ensure loans can and will be paid back so there will never again be a repeat of the Great Meltdown of 2008. The agency has also started the arduous process of taking entities that offer predatory student loans to the mat in court...
Miscellaneous
Senator’s Bill Is Stricter On N.S.A. Than House’s ...Senator Patrick J. Leahy said Thursday that next week he would file a new version of a bill aimed at ending the National Security Agency’s bulk phone records collection program after extensive negotiations with the Obama administration and privacy groups...
Teamsters Win Settlement For Taxi Driver Barred From Speaking At Public Meeting IBT ...Teamsters Local 922 scored a major victory for a D.C. taxi driver who will receive a monetary settlement as part of an agreement reached with the city after he was barred from speaking at a D.C. Taxi Commission (DCTC) meeting over concerns that his accent made him difficult to understand...
Hinckley Springs Employees Are Back At Work After 25-Day Strike Des Plaines Valley News ...Teamsters union members at the Hinckley Springs water bottling plant at 6055 S. Harlem Ave. in Chicago ended their 25-day strike on July 17. ...the workers felt the offer presented by DS Services of America Inc., which owns and operates the Hinckley Springs plants, was the best under the circumstances...
Trade
German NGO Says TTIP Will Undermine Global Food Security EurActiv ...The planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US threatens the concept of sustainable food security, the development NGO Brot für die Welt announced at a presentation of its annual report, in Berlin...
Ethiopia Becomes China’s China In Global Search For Cheap Labor Bloomberg News ...Huajian is nonetheless becoming a case study of Ethiopia’s emerging potential as a production center for labor-intensive products from shoes to T-shirts to handbags....
State Battles
Governor Rick Scott Shows What A Real Scandal Looks Like Time Magazine ...There’s nothing inherently wrong with government support for a train linking Miami and Orlando ... but it looks pretty sketchy after Governor Scott (at the urging of his conflicted chief of staff) rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail project that would have eventually linked Miami, Orlando and Tampa. ...
WEDC to hold its board meeting at China outsourcer Jake's Economic TA Funhouse ...Here's more on the absurdity of Gov Walker's quickly-backfiring ads against Trek bicycle. Walker's pet "jobs creator" organization, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), has its next Board meeting on Monday, and it's located at the headquarters of Briggs and Stratton Corporation in Wauwatosa...
On the stump, Hanaway calls for ‘right to work’, eliminating state income tax, and tort reform PoliticM ...Hanaway is the only announced Republican candidate for (Missouri) governor in 2016...
War On Workers
40-hour workweek just a memory, survey finds South Bend Tribune ...The "Take Back 60" study found that 88 percent of the 617 respondents who took the online survey last month said they work more than 40 hours a week...
Construction Worker On Fort Bragg Killed When Trench Caves In Fayetteville Observer ...Federal labor investigators are working to determine how a trench on Fort Bragg collapsed, killing a man Thursday morning...
Fired Walmart CEO to Get $4.5 Million To Leave Job 2 Paragraphs ...Walmart also suffers from some PR problems, given its much publicized low-wage workforce, an unsightly percentage of whom are also using government-funded food stamps to sustain themselves...
At 3 Years Old, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Gives Americans A Soapbox Huffington Post ...Despite vehement opposition, the CFPB continues to build on a solid track record that to date includes winning $4.6 billion in damages for 15 million consumers harmed by illegal practices. Included in that figure are major accomplishments, like forcing credit card companies to return $1.5 billion to consumers duped by add-on products and changing lending rules to ensure loans can and will be paid back so there will never again be a repeat of the Great Meltdown of 2008. The agency has also started the arduous process of taking entities that offer predatory student loans to the mat in court...
Miscellaneous
Senator’s Bill Is Stricter On N.S.A. Than House’s ...Senator Patrick J. Leahy said Thursday that next week he would file a new version of a bill aimed at ending the National Security Agency’s bulk phone records collection program after extensive negotiations with the Obama administration and privacy groups...
Friday, May 30, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.30.14
Teamster News
MORENO VALLEY: Union vote nixed at food company Press Enterprise ...An Inland-based Teamsters local attempting to organize workers at a Moreno Valley food distribution center has canceled an election that had been scheduled for today, claiming that the company continues to threaten and intimidate employees...
Teamsters target Florida West International Airways teamster.org ... Today, the Teamsters Airline Division announced the start of a new initiative to organize pilots at Florida West International Airways (FWIA), a cargo airline based out of Miami International Airport. The pilots fly routes throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean...
Teamsters ratify 4 contracts with Pekin Journal Star ...The Teamsters represent four units that work for the city — the street department, the wastewater plant workers, solid waste department workers and a general unit that represents bus drivers, mechanics, secretaries, clerks and others...
Trade
EU Elections Pose New Threat To Trade Deal Financial Times ...EU and US officials are increasingly concerned about the impact on transatlantic trade talks of a surge in support for anti-establishment parties in European elections, raising the prospect for delays as they adapt to a new political reality...
State Battles
Fort Wayne Moves To End Collective Bargaining WSBT ...Indiana's second-largest city is poised to end collective bargaining with all city employees except police and firefighters under a measure a union official said is being pushed by "far-right politicians" to the detriment of hundreds of hard-working public employees...
Why Is The Wall Street Journal Livid That Scott Walker Wants A John Doe Settlement PR Watch ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign is reportedly negotiating a settlement with prosecutors in the long-running "John Doe" criminal campaign finance probe -- and the editorial board, which for months has attacked prosecutors and portrayed the investigation as baseless, is livid...
Seattle City Council panel OKs $15 minimum wage Associated Press ... City Council members approved a delay to the implementation of the ordinance, from Jan. 1, 2015 to April 1, 2015...
An End to Sweatshop-Made City Workers’ Uniforms in Chicago? In These Times ...the people who make those same uniforms are unlikely to have any protections from the wage theft, locked fire exit doors and precarious buildings they could be facing on the job. A new ordinance introduced in the Chicago City Council on May 28 aims to fix that inconsistency. If the ordinance is passed, Chicago will join Los Angeles, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boston and Seattle in attempting to enforce labor rights for factory workers…
War On Workers
U.S. Economy Shrinks For The First Time In 3 Years Huffington Post ...The U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter, but there are signs activity has since rebounded...
Walmart Moms’ Walkout Starts Friday In These Times ... hundreds of mothers who work at Walmart stores throughout the country will begin walking off the job on Friday, a week before the company's shareholders meet in Bentonville, Arkansas. The action will culminate in a nationwide strike on Wednesday, June 4...
Few workers confident of easy retirement USA Today ...Only 28% of U.S. workers are "very" or "extremely" confident that they'll one day fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle; a third are somewhat confident...
In New Orleans, Major School District Closes Traditional Public Schools For Good Washington Post ...The second-graders paraded to the Dumpster in the rear parking lot, where they chucked boxes of old work sheets, notebooks and other detritus into the trash, emptying their school for good. Benjamin Banneker Elementary closed Wednesday as New Orleans’s Recovery School District permanently shuttered its last five traditional public schools this week...
Northwestern And Its Football Players May Have To Wait For Clarity About Unionizing Chicago Business Journal ...When the Northwestern football team starts practice for the 2014 season in early August, will there be clarity about whether the team has the right to unionize? Frankly, it's unclear at this point. But here is what is known about where things stand right now...
Here's What Corporate America Really Thinks About You Huffington Post ...If you are an American human being today, ... what you really are is a sadly predictable agglomeration of demographic traits and buying habits. This is just how the world works, according to our many "data brokers," who pretty much know everything. These are companies that tirelessly scour the Internet, government records and anyplace else we might leave a mark on this mortal coil and then use the information they glean to help companies sell crap to you...
Miscellaneous
Harry Reid's Attacks On Koch Brothers Send GOP Donors Into The Shadows Washington Post ...Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's relentless attacks on the billionaire Koch brothers are having an unforeseen impact--spurring other wealthy GOP donors to give more money to groups that keep their supporters' names secret...
The Wal-Mart Free City The New Yorker ...In October, the city council of Portland, Oregon, ... adopted a resolution banning Walmart—and Walmart alone— from the city’s investment portfolio. The resolution, unanimously approved, cited an anonymous executive who was quoted in Charles Fishman’s 2006 book, “The Wal-Mart Effect,” saying, “They have killed free-market capitalism in America.”...
MORENO VALLEY: Union vote nixed at food company Press Enterprise ...An Inland-based Teamsters local attempting to organize workers at a Moreno Valley food distribution center has canceled an election that had been scheduled for today, claiming that the company continues to threaten and intimidate employees...
Teamsters target Florida West International Airways teamster.org ... Today, the Teamsters Airline Division announced the start of a new initiative to organize pilots at Florida West International Airways (FWIA), a cargo airline based out of Miami International Airport. The pilots fly routes throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean...
Teamsters ratify 4 contracts with Pekin Journal Star ...The Teamsters represent four units that work for the city — the street department, the wastewater plant workers, solid waste department workers and a general unit that represents bus drivers, mechanics, secretaries, clerks and others...
Trade
EU Elections Pose New Threat To Trade Deal Financial Times ...EU and US officials are increasingly concerned about the impact on transatlantic trade talks of a surge in support for anti-establishment parties in European elections, raising the prospect for delays as they adapt to a new political reality...
State Battles
Fort Wayne Moves To End Collective Bargaining WSBT ...Indiana's second-largest city is poised to end collective bargaining with all city employees except police and firefighters under a measure a union official said is being pushed by "far-right politicians" to the detriment of hundreds of hard-working public employees...
Why Is The Wall Street Journal Livid That Scott Walker Wants A John Doe Settlement PR Watch ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign is reportedly negotiating a settlement with prosecutors in the long-running "John Doe" criminal campaign finance probe -- and the editorial board, which for months has attacked prosecutors and portrayed the investigation as baseless, is livid...
Seattle City Council panel OKs $15 minimum wage Associated Press ... City Council members approved a delay to the implementation of the ordinance, from Jan. 1, 2015 to April 1, 2015...
An End to Sweatshop-Made City Workers’ Uniforms in Chicago? In These Times ...the people who make those same uniforms are unlikely to have any protections from the wage theft, locked fire exit doors and precarious buildings they could be facing on the job. A new ordinance introduced in the Chicago City Council on May 28 aims to fix that inconsistency. If the ordinance is passed, Chicago will join Los Angeles, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boston and Seattle in attempting to enforce labor rights for factory workers…
War On Workers
U.S. Economy Shrinks For The First Time In 3 Years Huffington Post ...The U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter, but there are signs activity has since rebounded...
Walmart Moms’ Walkout Starts Friday In These Times ... hundreds of mothers who work at Walmart stores throughout the country will begin walking off the job on Friday, a week before the company's shareholders meet in Bentonville, Arkansas. The action will culminate in a nationwide strike on Wednesday, June 4...
Few workers confident of easy retirement USA Today ...Only 28% of U.S. workers are "very" or "extremely" confident that they'll one day fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle; a third are somewhat confident...
In New Orleans, Major School District Closes Traditional Public Schools For Good Washington Post ...The second-graders paraded to the Dumpster in the rear parking lot, where they chucked boxes of old work sheets, notebooks and other detritus into the trash, emptying their school for good. Benjamin Banneker Elementary closed Wednesday as New Orleans’s Recovery School District permanently shuttered its last five traditional public schools this week...
Northwestern And Its Football Players May Have To Wait For Clarity About Unionizing Chicago Business Journal ...When the Northwestern football team starts practice for the 2014 season in early August, will there be clarity about whether the team has the right to unionize? Frankly, it's unclear at this point. But here is what is known about where things stand right now...
Here's What Corporate America Really Thinks About You Huffington Post ...If you are an American human being today, ... what you really are is a sadly predictable agglomeration of demographic traits and buying habits. This is just how the world works, according to our many "data brokers," who pretty much know everything. These are companies that tirelessly scour the Internet, government records and anyplace else we might leave a mark on this mortal coil and then use the information they glean to help companies sell crap to you...
Miscellaneous
Harry Reid's Attacks On Koch Brothers Send GOP Donors Into The Shadows Washington Post ...Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's relentless attacks on the billionaire Koch brothers are having an unforeseen impact--spurring other wealthy GOP donors to give more money to groups that keep their supporters' names secret...
The Wal-Mart Free City The New Yorker ...In October, the city council of Portland, Oregon, ... adopted a resolution banning Walmart—and Walmart alone— from the city’s investment portfolio. The resolution, unanimously approved, cited an anonymous executive who was quoted in Charles Fishman’s 2006 book, “The Wal-Mart Effect,” saying, “They have killed free-market capitalism in America.”...
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.24.14
Teamster News
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills Teamster.org ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots Teamster.org ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units Atlanta Business Chronicle ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill People's World ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds. "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats Politico ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks CNN Money ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate Missouri Times ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race PR Watch ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise Bloomberg ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage Washington Post ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes NPR ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million AFL-CIO Now ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday Chicago Tribune ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today Moyers & Company ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers MSNBC ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party ThinkProgress ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills Teamster.org ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots Teamster.org ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units Atlanta Business Chronicle ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill People's World ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds. "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats Politico ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks CNN Money ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate Missouri Times ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race PR Watch ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise Bloomberg ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage Washington Post ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes NPR ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million AFL-CIO Now ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday Chicago Tribune ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today Moyers & Company ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers MSNBC ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party ThinkProgress ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.03.14
Teamster News
Shumlin Calls For End To CCTA Strike Vermont Public Radio ...Gov. Pete Shumlin urged Teamster drivers and management of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority on Tuesday to agree to a contract deal as soon as possible...
Bus Drivers and CCTA Management To Negotiate Again Wednesday Burlington Free Press ...Teamster Drivers with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority will meet with management at 5 pm Wednesday to continue negotiations over a three-year contract, CCTA Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Buckley told the Burlington Free Press Tuesday afternoon...
California Teamsters Call On US Foods To Recognize Union, Provide Security For Workers teamster.org ...On Tuesday, US Foods warehouse workers in Corona, Calif., called on the company to recognize Teamsters Local Union 63, Los Angeles, as their bargaining representative and to proceed immediately to negotiations for a first contract. The workers are concerned about job security as Sysco attempts to acquire their employer...
Rangel Snags Endorsement From Teamsters Union New York Observer ...Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is facing a tough re-election battle in a rematch against State Senator Adriano Espaillat, has notched another endorsement, this time from the Teamsters union...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Update KMA Land ...Japan said last week it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in talks with the United States on a pacific trade deal in time for President Barack Obama's trip to Asia next month...
Defense Science Board: Offshoring Of U.S. Manufacturing Has Created National Security Vulnerabilities Trade Reform ...For the first time perhaps ever, a U.S.-government report has stated that the shift of American manufacturing overseas is causing a decline in Americans’ standard of living...
State Battles
Right to Work future still uncertain after late meeting Springfield News-Leader ...The fate of Right to Work remains unclear following a late night meeting of House Republicans after a less controversial Paycheck Protection measure was given early approval Monday...
Emails Show Sen. Corker’s Chief of Staff Coordinated with Network of Anti-UAW Union Busters In These Times ...Leaked documents obtained by Nashville TV station NewsChannel 5 WVTF reveal communications between the employees of two Tennessee Republicans—Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam—and a network of prominent anti-union professionals during the United Auto Workers' union drive at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga earlier this year...
Union-busting efforts move forward in Mississippi, Michigan MSNBC ...One of the reasons anti-labor forces fought so hard to prevail in February’s fight in Chattanooga was that they wanted to send a message: conservatives are prepared to fight against unionization wherever and whenever they can...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's 2012 voter purge violated federal law, court rules Tampa Bay Times ...A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election...
Drought in California may hinder job growth for years, economists say Los Angeles Times ...Lack of rain in 2013 could diminish the fishing and manufacturing sectors in California, the UCLA Anderson Forecast says. Even without the weather factor, L.A. is grappling with major problems with its job market...
War on Workers
Power Surge for Donors New York Times ...Big donors, leaders of political parties and candidates with access to wealthy supporters will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Supreme Court decision issued on Wednesday, a ruling that could fundamentally reshape the political terrain in the 2014 elections and beyond...
Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Donations Caps in Federal Elections Reuters ...On a 5-4 vote, the court struck down the overall limits on how much individuals can give to candidates, parties and political action committees in total during the federal two-year election cycle...
NSA searched Americans’ communications without a warrant, intelligence director says Washington Post ...Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. acknowledged that the National Security Agency has searched for Americans’ communications without warrants in massive databases that gather e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets...
More Americans see middle class status slipping Associated Press ...Nearly five years after the Great Recession ended, more people are coming to the painful realization that they’re no longer part of it...
BLS Issues New Occupational Employment and Wage Report Fire Dog Lake ...According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both retail clerks and cashiers are occupations highest in employment...
Koch brothers vs. a bus: Why two billionaires hate a transit project in Nashville Salon ...The idea of a public bus transport project in Nashville, Tenn. is under fire as the Koch brothers and their front organization are trying to stop it...
Baltimore's MICA Adjunct Professors Set to Vote on Unionization The Real News ...Maryland Institute College of Art part-time faculty member Hannah Brancato and organizer Maria Maisto discuss the growing nationwide trend of adjunct professors organizing in order to collective bargain for decent salaries and benefits...
U.S. Labor Department Calls NFL Cheerleaders 'Seasonal Amusement' -- Says They Don't Deserve Minimum Wage The Guardian ...With next to no labor rights and making nowhere near the minimum wage, they could use a cheer or two themselves...
Miscellaneous
Greed Kills Reuters ...General Motors Co in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car, according to an internal GM document provided to U.S. congressional investigators...
Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes, senator says Los Angeles Times ...Sen. Carl Levin, saying it was "long past time" to ensure that multinational U.S. corporations pay taxes on their overseas profits, took Caterpillar Inc. to task for an offshore strategy that helped the company avoid $2.4 billion in income taxes...
Straight From the NSA's Mouth: We Searched You Without a Warrant AlterNet ..NSA Director Clapper finally admitted to senators that the NSA performed warrantless searches...
Shumlin Calls For End To CCTA Strike Vermont Public Radio ...Gov. Pete Shumlin urged Teamster drivers and management of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority on Tuesday to agree to a contract deal as soon as possible...
Bus Drivers and CCTA Management To Negotiate Again Wednesday Burlington Free Press ...Teamster Drivers with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority will meet with management at 5 pm Wednesday to continue negotiations over a three-year contract, CCTA Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Buckley told the Burlington Free Press Tuesday afternoon...
California Teamsters Call On US Foods To Recognize Union, Provide Security For Workers teamster.org ...On Tuesday, US Foods warehouse workers in Corona, Calif., called on the company to recognize Teamsters Local Union 63, Los Angeles, as their bargaining representative and to proceed immediately to negotiations for a first contract. The workers are concerned about job security as Sysco attempts to acquire their employer...
Rangel Snags Endorsement From Teamsters Union New York Observer ...Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is facing a tough re-election battle in a rematch against State Senator Adriano Espaillat, has notched another endorsement, this time from the Teamsters union...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Update KMA Land ...Japan said last week it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in talks with the United States on a pacific trade deal in time for President Barack Obama's trip to Asia next month...
Defense Science Board: Offshoring Of U.S. Manufacturing Has Created National Security Vulnerabilities Trade Reform ...For the first time perhaps ever, a U.S.-government report has stated that the shift of American manufacturing overseas is causing a decline in Americans’ standard of living...
State Battles
Right to Work future still uncertain after late meeting Springfield News-Leader ...The fate of Right to Work remains unclear following a late night meeting of House Republicans after a less controversial Paycheck Protection measure was given early approval Monday...
Emails Show Sen. Corker’s Chief of Staff Coordinated with Network of Anti-UAW Union Busters In These Times ...Leaked documents obtained by Nashville TV station NewsChannel 5 WVTF reveal communications between the employees of two Tennessee Republicans—Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam—and a network of prominent anti-union professionals during the United Auto Workers' union drive at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga earlier this year...
Union-busting efforts move forward in Mississippi, Michigan MSNBC ...One of the reasons anti-labor forces fought so hard to prevail in February’s fight in Chattanooga was that they wanted to send a message: conservatives are prepared to fight against unionization wherever and whenever they can...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's 2012 voter purge violated federal law, court rules Tampa Bay Times ...A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election...
Drought in California may hinder job growth for years, economists say Los Angeles Times ...Lack of rain in 2013 could diminish the fishing and manufacturing sectors in California, the UCLA Anderson Forecast says. Even without the weather factor, L.A. is grappling with major problems with its job market...
War on Workers
Power Surge for Donors New York Times ...Big donors, leaders of political parties and candidates with access to wealthy supporters will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Supreme Court decision issued on Wednesday, a ruling that could fundamentally reshape the political terrain in the 2014 elections and beyond...
Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Donations Caps in Federal Elections Reuters ...On a 5-4 vote, the court struck down the overall limits on how much individuals can give to candidates, parties and political action committees in total during the federal two-year election cycle...
NSA searched Americans’ communications without a warrant, intelligence director says Washington Post ...Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. acknowledged that the National Security Agency has searched for Americans’ communications without warrants in massive databases that gather e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets...
More Americans see middle class status slipping Associated Press ...Nearly five years after the Great Recession ended, more people are coming to the painful realization that they’re no longer part of it...
BLS Issues New Occupational Employment and Wage Report Fire Dog Lake ...According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both retail clerks and cashiers are occupations highest in employment...
Koch brothers vs. a bus: Why two billionaires hate a transit project in Nashville Salon ...The idea of a public bus transport project in Nashville, Tenn. is under fire as the Koch brothers and their front organization are trying to stop it...
Baltimore's MICA Adjunct Professors Set to Vote on Unionization The Real News ...Maryland Institute College of Art part-time faculty member Hannah Brancato and organizer Maria Maisto discuss the growing nationwide trend of adjunct professors organizing in order to collective bargain for decent salaries and benefits...
U.S. Labor Department Calls NFL Cheerleaders 'Seasonal Amusement' -- Says They Don't Deserve Minimum Wage The Guardian ...With next to no labor rights and making nowhere near the minimum wage, they could use a cheer or two themselves...
Miscellaneous
Greed Kills Reuters ...General Motors Co in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car, according to an internal GM document provided to U.S. congressional investigators...
Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes, senator says Los Angeles Times ...Sen. Carl Levin, saying it was "long past time" to ensure that multinational U.S. corporations pay taxes on their overseas profits, took Caterpillar Inc. to task for an offshore strategy that helped the company avoid $2.4 billion in income taxes...
Straight From the NSA's Mouth: We Searched You Without a Warrant AlterNet ..NSA Director Clapper finally admitted to senators that the NSA performed warrantless searches...
Friday, March 28, 2014
Today's Teamster News 03.28.14
Teamster News
Council Votes To Encourage End To CCTA Strike WPTZ ...The Burlington City Council has voted to encourage management with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and the bus drivers' union, represented by the Teamsters, to end the nearly two-week strike as soon as possible...
Victory at Pasco County, Florida for Teamsters Local 79 teamster.org ...More than 1,100 Pasco County, Florida public employees will soon be voting on a first Teamster contract now that Local 79, Tampa and the county have agreed on a tentative contract. According to the local union, such issues as seniority, break time, overtime pay, holidays, uniforms and more are addressed in the contract...
Teamsters: The Deadline To Apply For A James R. Hoffa Scholarship Is March 31 teamster.org ...The Fund will award $800,000 in scholarships this year to children and financially dependent grandchildren of Teamster members...
A Brief Glimpse of Human Rights Advances In The Teamsters teamster.org ...Women and minorities have always been active in the labor movement. Much of the critical legislation that has been passed over the years started as grassroots movements from within one or more of these groups, even though they frequently did not receive credit or recognition for their efforts. View the full post, here...
March Madness: Brought to You by the Teamsters Counterpunch ...This (NLRB) ruling (which applies only to private colleges and universities, and not public institutions) ... gives college basketball players the right to unionize as well. Just think about that. March Madness, brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters! Is this a great country, or what?...
Trade
U.S. Steelmakers Accuse South Korea Of Dumping Independent Business Journal ...U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal by volume, said South Korea is dumping steel pipes and tubes in the U.S...
NAFTA at 20 AFL-CIO ...NAFTA pushed small Mexican farmers off their lands, increasing the flow of desperate undocumented migrants...
State Battles
Still No Wage Agreement In Annapolis Baltimore Sun ...The standoff in Annapolis over raising the minimum wage intensified Tuesday...
Missouri Union Members Rally Against Right To Work Associated Press ...About a thousand Missouri union members rallied at the state Capitol to combat legislation that would prohibit labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Minnesota Unions Come To Dakotas' Aid Twin Cities Daily Planet ...With more than 20,000 job openings and the nation's lowest unemployment rate, North Dakota is desperately seeking skilled workers to build infrastructure that keeps pace with its oil boom. Despite the conservative state's laws unfriendly to organized labor, six Minnesota-based trade unions are stepping up to help...
Mississippi Senate Gives Final Approval To 3 Anti-Union Bills Associated Press ...Bills that aim to restrict union organizing and picketing practices in Mississippi, as well as limit governments' abilities to pressure employers to use unionized workers, are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant...
Hidden Cameras Catch Lobbyists, AZ Lawmakers Wining And Dining CBS 5 News ...CBS 5 Investigates rolled hidden cameras during a membership drive for one of the country's most secretive and controversial organizations. Lobbyists and state lawmakers mingled over steaks and drinks in a private room at the Valley's exclusive Donovan's Steakhouse, an event put on by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Wisconsin GOP Heads Off Criminal Probe Into Corporate Election Spending By Trying To Make It Legal ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin’s State Senate Majority Leader, who is reportedly under investigation for his role in a possibly illegal campaign finance scheme, has come up with a novel way to shut down the criminal probe: changing the state law to legalize the activity in question...
War on Workers
The 67 People As Wealthy As The World's Poorest 3.5 Billion Forbes ...Each of the 67 is on average worth the same as 52 million people from the bottom of the world’s wealth pyramid...
Northwestern Football Players Win First Round In Union Battle Huffington Post ...Football players at Northwestern University have cleared the first major hurdle in their closely watched unionization effort, with an official of the National Labor Relations Board determining that the players are employees and thus eligible to vote in a union election...
GOP States Are The Most Dependent On Government Huffington Post ...If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care...
Feds Tally Rollovers Of Payday Loans The Columbus Dispatch ...About half of all payday loans are made to people who extend the loans so many times that they end up paying more in fees than the original amount they borrowed, a report by a federal watchdog has found...
Walmart Admits Profits Depend Heavily On Corporate Welfare ZeroHedge ...It appears that Walmart has admitted the potentially severe adverse impact a reduction in food stamp payments could have on its bottom line...
Hundreds of Students & Faculty Occupy College Campus to Fight Cuts to Public Higher Ed Real News ...hundreds of students, faculty, and supporters rallied at University of Southern Maine against the announced layoffs of 20 full-time faculty members...
Miscellaneous
Labor unions saved Ford in our 'darkest' hour: Bill Ford CNBC ...the UAW helped the entire industry "get back on its feet..."
US Seniors Shafted By Inflation That Is 170 Percent In Excess Of Savings' Interest Truthout ...Lost in the coverage of America's tale of two economies (the 1% who have received 95 percent of the financial gains since they busted the economy in 2008 -- and the rest of us), is that seniors are especially hard hit by the disparity between so-called savings account interest and inflation...
A Government Computer Glitch Forced Thousands Of Families To Go Hungry Huffington Post ...Thousands in North Carolina had enough to worry about before a computer glitch began to fray the basic part of the social safety net..
Caterpillar To Cooperate With Tax Investigation GateHouse Media Illinois ...Caterpillar Inc. plans to cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigative panel looking into whether the company may have improperly avoided U.S. taxes by moving profits outside the country...
A Massive Chemical Plant Is Poised To Wipe This Louisiana Town Off The Map Mother Jones ...SASOL's proposed facility may spell the end for a 224-year-old community founded by freed slaves...
Council Votes To Encourage End To CCTA Strike WPTZ ...The Burlington City Council has voted to encourage management with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and the bus drivers' union, represented by the Teamsters, to end the nearly two-week strike as soon as possible...
Victory at Pasco County, Florida for Teamsters Local 79 teamster.org ...More than 1,100 Pasco County, Florida public employees will soon be voting on a first Teamster contract now that Local 79, Tampa and the county have agreed on a tentative contract. According to the local union, such issues as seniority, break time, overtime pay, holidays, uniforms and more are addressed in the contract...
Teamsters: The Deadline To Apply For A James R. Hoffa Scholarship Is March 31 teamster.org ...The Fund will award $800,000 in scholarships this year to children and financially dependent grandchildren of Teamster members...
A Brief Glimpse of Human Rights Advances In The Teamsters teamster.org ...Women and minorities have always been active in the labor movement. Much of the critical legislation that has been passed over the years started as grassroots movements from within one or more of these groups, even though they frequently did not receive credit or recognition for their efforts. View the full post, here...
March Madness: Brought to You by the Teamsters Counterpunch ...This (NLRB) ruling (which applies only to private colleges and universities, and not public institutions) ... gives college basketball players the right to unionize as well. Just think about that. March Madness, brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters! Is this a great country, or what?...
Trade
U.S. Steelmakers Accuse South Korea Of Dumping Independent Business Journal ...U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal by volume, said South Korea is dumping steel pipes and tubes in the U.S...
NAFTA at 20 AFL-CIO ...NAFTA pushed small Mexican farmers off their lands, increasing the flow of desperate undocumented migrants...
State Battles
Still No Wage Agreement In Annapolis Baltimore Sun ...The standoff in Annapolis over raising the minimum wage intensified Tuesday...
Missouri Union Members Rally Against Right To Work Associated Press ...About a thousand Missouri union members rallied at the state Capitol to combat legislation that would prohibit labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Minnesota Unions Come To Dakotas' Aid Twin Cities Daily Planet ...With more than 20,000 job openings and the nation's lowest unemployment rate, North Dakota is desperately seeking skilled workers to build infrastructure that keeps pace with its oil boom. Despite the conservative state's laws unfriendly to organized labor, six Minnesota-based trade unions are stepping up to help...
Mississippi Senate Gives Final Approval To 3 Anti-Union Bills Associated Press ...Bills that aim to restrict union organizing and picketing practices in Mississippi, as well as limit governments' abilities to pressure employers to use unionized workers, are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant...
Hidden Cameras Catch Lobbyists, AZ Lawmakers Wining And Dining CBS 5 News ...CBS 5 Investigates rolled hidden cameras during a membership drive for one of the country's most secretive and controversial organizations. Lobbyists and state lawmakers mingled over steaks and drinks in a private room at the Valley's exclusive Donovan's Steakhouse, an event put on by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Wisconsin GOP Heads Off Criminal Probe Into Corporate Election Spending By Trying To Make It Legal ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin’s State Senate Majority Leader, who is reportedly under investigation for his role in a possibly illegal campaign finance scheme, has come up with a novel way to shut down the criminal probe: changing the state law to legalize the activity in question...
War on Workers
The 67 People As Wealthy As The World's Poorest 3.5 Billion Forbes ...Each of the 67 is on average worth the same as 52 million people from the bottom of the world’s wealth pyramid...
Northwestern Football Players Win First Round In Union Battle Huffington Post ...Football players at Northwestern University have cleared the first major hurdle in their closely watched unionization effort, with an official of the National Labor Relations Board determining that the players are employees and thus eligible to vote in a union election...
GOP States Are The Most Dependent On Government Huffington Post ...If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care...
Feds Tally Rollovers Of Payday Loans The Columbus Dispatch ...About half of all payday loans are made to people who extend the loans so many times that they end up paying more in fees than the original amount they borrowed, a report by a federal watchdog has found...
Walmart Admits Profits Depend Heavily On Corporate Welfare ZeroHedge ...It appears that Walmart has admitted the potentially severe adverse impact a reduction in food stamp payments could have on its bottom line...
Hundreds of Students & Faculty Occupy College Campus to Fight Cuts to Public Higher Ed Real News ...hundreds of students, faculty, and supporters rallied at University of Southern Maine against the announced layoffs of 20 full-time faculty members...
Miscellaneous
Labor unions saved Ford in our 'darkest' hour: Bill Ford CNBC ...the UAW helped the entire industry "get back on its feet..."
US Seniors Shafted By Inflation That Is 170 Percent In Excess Of Savings' Interest Truthout ...Lost in the coverage of America's tale of two economies (the 1% who have received 95 percent of the financial gains since they busted the economy in 2008 -- and the rest of us), is that seniors are especially hard hit by the disparity between so-called savings account interest and inflation...
A Government Computer Glitch Forced Thousands Of Families To Go Hungry Huffington Post ...Thousands in North Carolina had enough to worry about before a computer glitch began to fray the basic part of the social safety net..
Caterpillar To Cooperate With Tax Investigation GateHouse Media Illinois ...Caterpillar Inc. plans to cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigative panel looking into whether the company may have improperly avoided U.S. taxes by moving profits outside the country...
A Massive Chemical Plant Is Poised To Wipe This Louisiana Town Off The Map Mother Jones ...SASOL's proposed facility may spell the end for a 224-year-old community founded by freed slaves...
Monday, July 29, 2013
Grade changed to A for political donor's outsourced school in Indiana
An outsourced school in Indiana that should have gotten a C for performance instead got an A because it was run by a prominent Republican donor Christel DeHaan.
DeHaan founded the Christel House charter school.She also gave more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett.
The Associated Press reported today,
DeHaan founded the Christel House charter school.She also gave more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett.
The Associated Press reported today,
...when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, former Indiana school Superintendent Tony Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan's school received an "A," despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a "C."
"They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12 email to then-chief of staff Heather Neal, who is now Gov. Mike Pence's chief lobbyist.
The emails, which also show Bennett discussed with staff the legality of changing just DeHaan's grade, raise unsettling questions about the validity of a grading system that has broad implications. Indiana uses the A-F grades to determine which schools get taken over by the state and whether students seeking state-funded vouchers to attend private school need to first spend a year in public school. They also help determine how much state funding schools receive.The Associated Press reported other schools had their grades changed, but only because the grade was changed for DeHaan's charter school. According to AP:
Bennett consistently cited Christel House as a top-performing school as he secured support for the measure from business groups and lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long.
But trouble loomed when Indiana's then-grading director, Jon Gubera, alerted Bennett on Sept 13 that the Christel House Academy had scored a 2.9, or a "C."
"This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email to Neal.
Neal fired back a few minutes later, "Oh, crap. We cannot release until this is resolved."
And why were we not surprised to learn that Bennett is now Florida's education commissioner, where he is reworking the grading system?
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