Student debt weaves itself into the fabric of America

More and more people are going to college, but they're getting into more and more debt to do it. It's not just a problem for millennials like me, it's a problem for the entire country.

College enrollment increased by over 5 million people from 2001 to 2011. And people aren't just going to college at higher rates, they're graduating more frequently too. But, while more people are going to college, the costs are going up as well. It's a good investment: A study by Georgetown University estimates that by 2018, 60 percent of American jobs will require a degree.

However, like lots of good investments, the up-front costs are massive. The Class of 2014, many of whom matriculated merely months ago, are staring down an average of over $30,000 in debt. The Wall Street Journal explains:

The average Class of 2014 graduate with student-loan debt has to pay back some $33,000, according to an analysis of government data by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher at Edvisors, a group of web sites about planning and paying for college. Even after adjusting for inflation that’s nearly double the amount borrowers had to pay back 20 years ago.

Worse yet, these students are walking into a work force at a time when wages are falling. Again from the Journal:

The problem is that earnings and debt aren’t moving in the same direction. From 2005 to 2012, average student loan debt has jumped 35 percent, adjusting for inflation, while the median salary has actually dropped by 2.2 percent. If that continues debt burdens will become more unwieldy.

This has turned into a full-blown crisis. There is over $1 trillion in student debt nationally. Without money to spend, especially by individuals that need to spend it, the economy will not grow. Debt will gain interest and the vicious cycle will continue.

I'll end on a personal note. Walking across the stage to get my high school diploma and my college degree were two of the proudest days of my life. I am so proud to work for a union which understands the importance of education and value's extending that moral to its membership. I hope these values will begin to pervade our nation further and we can end this senseless cycle of student debt.
                                          --Teamster Dan

Wall Street to blame for sky-high tuition and student debt

One out of every ten dollars spent on higher education in the United States now goes to Wall Street, according to a new report by Debt and Society, a blog about debt.

The report notes higher education costs in the United States are twice as much per student as they are in other industrialized countries. Part of that cost is interest on student debt (which goes to Wall Street). Part of that cost is the institutions' reliance on debt (the interest on which goes to Wall Street) to fund sports stadiums, luxury dormitories and dining halls. A third cost is the profit that goes to investors in for-profit colleges.

The report's authors note instructional costs haven't increased over the 10 years they studied. But financing costs skyrocketed. By 2012, per-student financing costs grew 53 percent, to $2,861 per student from $1,865 in 2002.

Wall Street skims profit from educational institutions when their capital investments don't pay for themselves. Here's one example:

Financial losses on University of California at Berkeley’s new Memorial Stadium provide a high-profile example of bond agreements requiring tax and tuition payers to cover payments on excessive debts for amenities. The UC Board of Regents, which governs the UC system, planned to pay off $445 million in bonds for the stadium by selling the rights for 2,900 luxury seats for up to 50 years.43 In June of 2013, however, UC officials acknowledged that sales of these rights had fallen $120 million short of their targets, increasing the odds that UC will use other revenue like tuition and tax dollars to pay off the bonds.

Rising student debt, of course, is another way Wall Street is increasing its profit. In the past 10 years,student debt rose an average of 14 percent a year, to $966 billion in 2012 from $364 billion in 2004, Bloomberg reported.

No other country imposes the kind of costs on college and university students that the U.S. does, and nowhere else do loans cover so much of those costs. Experts think that the $1.2 trillion in outstanding education debt in the U.S. is more than that of the rest of the world combined. 

Lately there's been some pushback (no doubt financed by Wall Street) about student debt. 'Studies' claim it isn't really a problem. But as Mike Konczal wrote in The New Republic,

Student debt chips away at the ability to be a risk-taking entrepreneur, a homesteader who has amassed enough wealth to be self-sufficient, or someone who has dedicated their craft to working in our rich civil society. These are three very real versions of the American Dream, and ... they are all being weakened by the way we saddle young people with student debt burdens. 

Read the whole study here.

Today's Teamster News 06.10.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Demand Crackdown On Cheap Korean Steel Imports  Digital Journal   ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and top leaders with the union's railway conference are calling on the Department of Commerce to fully weigh the concerns of the U.S. steel industry as it continues its anti-dumping probe looking at cheap imports being brought into this country by South Korea and eight other nations...
Fourth Cumberland County Union On Way? Court Related Employees Seek Membership  The Sentinel   ...Non-professional, court-related Cumberland County employees could receive union representation for the first time thanks to a National Labor Relations Board petition filed by Teamsters Local 776 on May 14, Chief Clerk Larry Thomas confirmed...
Hoffa Calls On House Of Representatives To Protect Highway Safety  teamster.org   ...“The tragic accident that claimed the life of comedian James McNair and injured many others including actor Tracy Morgan, could have been prevented had Walmart’s driver been properly rested rather than reportedly going 24 hours without a break,” Hoffa said. “...We must ensure that hours of service rules provide enough rest for drivers so cumulative fatigue doesn’t put the driving public at risk.”...
Trade
Japan Holding Up Free Trade Talks  13WHOtv.com   ...a major hold up in the talks are Japan’s proposal to maintain tariffs on sensitive products like beef, dairy, wheat, rice, and pork...
State Battles
Grocery workers in California see wages shrink  SFGate.com   ...A new look at California's $98 billion grocery industry shows it is a microcosm of the state's wealth inequality gap. While a private-equity firm is buying Safeway for $9 billion, 1 in 3 grocery workers is on some form of public assistance. While grocery chains are cash machines for investors, nearly 1 in 5 workers has cut back on meals because he or she couldn't afford to buy food...
War On Workers
Prosecutor: Trucker in Morgan crash lacked sleep  Associated Press   ...The Wal-Mart truck driver from Georgia accused of triggering a crash in New Jersey that critically injured Tracy Morgan and killed another comedian had not slept for more than 24 hours, a criminal complaint said...
Regular shoppers cite Walmart's low pay and poor treatment of workers as reasons to stay away  Daily Kos   ...Walmart's reputation is suffering among consumers, with 28 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of Walmart, compared to just 13 percent unfavorable for Target and just six percent unfavorable for Costco. Walmart's low wages and bad treatment of its workers are registering on shoppers...
Wal-Mart's Image Problem Under Scrutiny At Annual Shareholder Meeting  Al Jazeera America   ...Walmart workers speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Friday said the megastore’s staffing problems and poor pay were hurting the company’s image and contributing to lagging sales. Their statement comes after a week of rallies across the country by labor activists, union representatives and workers in cities such as Chicago; Dayton, Ohio; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
What’s the Source of Soaring Corporate Profits? Stagnant Wages  Washington's Blog   ...once capital can no longer make profits selling goods and services and wage-earners can no longer afford to buy goods and services, the system disintegrates...
Court probes Wells’ foreclosure steps again  New York Post   ...How exactly do the note endorsement processes described in Wells Fargo’s controversial Home Mortgage Foreclosure Attorney Procedure Manual work? On March 12, The Post broke the news of this manual and allegations in court papers by attorney Linda Tirelli that the document provides detailed procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand. Wells Fargo denied the allegations...
Tipped Into Poverty  New York Times   ...When Senate Republicans recently blocked a vote to raise the federal minimum wage, they snubbed the estimated 27.8 million people who would earn more if the measure became law. The hardest hit are the roughly 3.3 million Americans who work for tips...
The US Chamber Of Secrets  Moyers & Company   ...The US Chamber of Commerce’s stated mission is “representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions,” but watchdog groups say the US Chamber represents the interests of a select few big industry groups that want to crush worker organizing...
The Job Market's Five-Year Recovery In 10 Charts  FiveThirtyEight   ...Six-and-a-half years after the Great Recession began — and five years after it officially ended the U.S. has finally surpassed its precrisis employment peak. But the job market is far from fully healed...
Miscellaneous
Student Debt Relief To Expand  Wall Street Journal   ...An expansion of a federal program designed to reduce payments for student-loan recipients is expected to be announced Monday by President Barack Obama, the latest push by Democrats to address concerns about rising student debt...
How Much Did Snowden Take? Not Even The NSA Really Knows  Newsweek   ...It was just over a year ago this week that former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked a trove of secret National Security Agency documents detailing the agency’s massive online spy program. What and how much Snowden took remains a mystery...

Today's Teamster News 05.16.14

Teamster News
Teamsters say Scott Brown lied to their face  Manchester Union Leader   ...The local Teamsters chapter is accusing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown of lying to their face over his support of the Keystone XL pipeline...
Teamsters 'out & looking militant' support supersized global fast food strike  TeamsterNation   ...Teamsters took to the streets along with striking fast food workers today, escalating the global movement for fair wages for all workers and the right to join a union...
Teamster presence felt at 9/11 Memorial Museum  TeamsterNation   ...Teamster Local 282 member Manny Rodriguez donated his Teamsters jacket to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the hard hat he wore at Ground Zero and a sculpture of the twin towers burned from World Trade Center steel...
Newburgh PBA, Teamsters, Slam Police Administration  Mid Hudson News   ...The City of Newburgh's PBA claims there is a turf war among crime factions in the city, with bullets flying day and night and the city administration, including Police Chief Michael Ferrera, is doing nothing about it...
Teamsters Reveal What's Really Happening at National Express  teamster.org   ...Evelina Moultrie, a Durham driver in Charleston, S.C., and a member of Teamsters Local 509 in West Columbia, S.C., told the Board about issues with overcrowding, as well as insects and mold on the buses...
Airgas Drivers Join Teamsters Local 25  teamster.org   ...Local 25 in Boston recently organized a group of 17 tankhaul workers who deliver air cylinders to commercial entities in the area...
Trade
Elizabeth Warren Reveals Inside Details of Trade Talks  The Nation   ... “I actually have had supporters of the deal say to me ‘They have to be secret, because if the American people knew what was actually in them, they would be opposed.’”...
Second Anniversary of Colombia Pact Spotlights Administration's Failed Promise of Labor Rights Improvements, Now Recycled to Defend TPP Negotiations with Vietnam amid Worker Riots  Public Citizen   ...Undeterred by the ongoing repression of Colombian workers, U.S. trade negotiators are in Vietnam at this very moment in attempt to negotiate via the TPP an expansion of the FTA model to Vietnam, despite the country’s widespread labor abuses...
State Battles
Report indicates Wisconsin added 28,000 jobs last year  Wisconsin Radio Network   ...Figures submitted by the state to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show Wisconsin added just over 28,000 private sector jobs in 2013. It’s the lowest rate of growth for the state since Walker took office, bringing the total number of job created during the governor’s first three years in office to just under 92,000. That’s less than half of the 250,000 private sector jobs Walker promised to help create...
North Carolina Voters Want To End Partisan Gerrymandering  Think Progress   ...By a wide margin, North Carolina voters say they want to replace their state's current system of political gerrymandering with a non-partisan redistricting option, according to a new poll...
I Attended An ALEC Convention And Found An Alternate Universe  Bill Moyers   ...Last week I traveled to Missouri to attend my second American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) conference. As a state legislator from Wisconsin, I joined ALEC last year...
America's Most Gerrymandered Congressional Districts  Washington Post   ...This election year, we can expect to hear a lot about Congressional district gerrymandering, which is when political parties redraw district boundaries to give themselves an electoral advantage...
War On Workers
Biggest fast food strike ever attracts global support  MSNBC   ...A year and a half ago, it was 200 striking workers in a single city. As of this week, it’s a global movement. On Thursday, thousands of fast food workers across the United States initiated the latest in a series of day-long strikes against their employers...
Boeing conducted unfair practices against U.S. engineers: labor board  Reuters   ...The U.S. National Labor Relations Board said on Thursday that Boeing Co (BA.N) committed unfair labor practices against its unionized engineers near Seattle and in Portland, Oregon, when it photographed and videotaped workplace marches in 2012...
Median Net Worth Of Grads Under 40 With Student Debt Is Only $8,700  Los Angeles Times   ...The financial travails of people under 40 with student loan debt extend far beyond the college loans themselves, according to a new study...
Miscellaneous
FCC Votes For Plan To Kill Net Neutrality  Huffington Post   ...On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of a proposal that would rewrite the rules that govern how traffic flows on the internet, issuing a blow to the principle of net neutrality...

Today's Teamster News 04.29.14

Teamster News
Truckers Plan 2-Day Strike At LA, Long Beach Ports  CBS News   ...Truck drivers who haul cargo in and out of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach planned to go on a two-day strike beginning Monday that they said was not directed at the busy ports themselves but at the companies that employ drivers...
Latest Strike By The Truckers At The Port Could Be More Disruptive  KPCC   ...Some truck drivers for companies that move cargo in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are beginning a two-day strike Monday morning...
In holding pattern for Teamsters' job action in Abbotsford  BC Local News   ...Strike action by Teamsters Local 31 could begin as early as this afternoon, although school district superintendent Kevin Godden said the local hasn't provided any details about "the nature, location or specific time."...
Cerberus Loots Bankrupt Airlines Health Care Account  Huffington Post   ...Private equity firm Cerberus Business Finance, LLC is looting a bankrupt airline that for 66 years ferried troops and equipment to war zones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia...
Trade
Anti-TPP Activists Protest Obama Speech in Malaysia  Democracy Now   ... On Sunday, Obama faced protest at a public event in Malaysia over the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Obama Fails To Seal Trans-Pacific Partnership Deal  Daily Star   ...No deal. That best sums up United States President Barack Obama's stops in Japan and Malaysia, where bilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations failed to end in an agreement...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact Must Be Rejected By U.S. (LTE)  Arizona Daily Star   ...Byron Schlomach's article, "Arizona's future depends on international trade," April 21, implies that all international trade agreements are good for Arizona and the United States. Some are good and some are not so good. The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, or TPP, is one of those not good for the state or nation...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican Leaders Continue To Push For 'Right-To-Work' Bill  Lake Expo   ...The prospect of a second vote on "right to work" remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they will continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
War on Workers
Survey Details Struggles Of Syracuse's Low-Wage Workers  Syracuse Post-Standard   ...Low-wage workers in the Syracuse area struggle with conditions that can cause health problems and make it hard to climb the economic ladder, according to a new survey...
One Year After Rana Plaza  New York Times   ...A horrendous building collapse last April in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment workers. Labor groups, Western clothing companies, the Bangladeshi government and others have made progress towards preventing similar tragedies, but more needs to be done...
Restaurant Workers: 'Stop Wage Theft'  Workers World   ...In a powerful demonstration of support, dozens of people marched into Liberato restaurant in the Bronx, demanding better wages and working conditions for the workers on April 19...
Miscellaneous
Student Debt "Celebrated" Outside The Dept. of Education  Open Media Boston   ...The campaign for a debt-free future hit out at growing levels of student-debt in a rally outside the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in Boston on Friday...

Today's Teamster News 03.27.14

Teamster News
Special City Council Meeting to Address Teamsters Strike Against CCTA  Burlington Free Press   ...One of the two items on the agenda of a Burlington City Council meeting that starts 5 pm Wednesday will be an update on the Teamster drivers' strike from Chittenden County Transportation Authority representatives...
Teamster Drivers Strike  at CCTA Enters Week 2  WCAX   ...It's week two of the Teamsters bus drivers' strike, and riders are still struggling to get around. With no apparent end in sight, some families that rely on public transportation say they fear the worst...
Huge Teamster turnout at pro-worker, anti-RTW4Less rally in Missouri  TeamsterNation   ...A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature...
The death of an employer scam  American Prospect   ...The decisions of the NLRB and the California Labor Commissioner signal that the days of industry-wide misclassification—at least, for port truckers—may be numbered...

Trade
China loses trade dispute over rare earth exports  Reuters   …China has lost a dispute at the World Trade Organization over limits on rare earth and metals exports, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as Beijing's unfair trade practices...
U.S. Steelmakers Push for Duties on Korean Rivals  Wall Street Journal   ...Struggling U.S. steelmakers want Washington to punish their South Korean competitors for selling lucrative steel products to the U.S. oil and gas industry at prices the U.S. suppliers say are unfair...
State Battles
Union groups rally against ‘right to work’ legislation at Missouri Capitol  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...Gov. Jay Nixon told the crowd he would not hesitate to veto anti-worker legislation as he has in the past. Currently, the Missouri House is considering a measure to put right to work on the August ballot, bypassing the governor...
Pa. still facing an uphill battle to privatize liquor sales  Express-Times   ...The road to liquor privatization in Pennsylvania is defined by detour, and this year is no exception. As an election season begins to heat up, the Legislature is entertaining multiple reform efforts...
Wisconsin's personal income rebounded more slowly than U.S. average  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...After American wages plunged in the darkest days of the last recession, Wisconsin's personal net earnings have rebounded — but at an average annual rate that lags that of the nation and most of its Great Lakes peers, according to the latest government estimates released Tuesday...
Iowa lawmakers consider tax credit for student debt  Quad-City Times   ...Iowa residents could receive a state tax credit for student loans if they earned a degree from a regent institution, community college or nonprofit university in Iowa under legislation considered by a three-member House panel Tuesday...
War on Workers
Northwestern players get union vote  MSNBC   ...In a potentially game-changing moment for college athletics, the Chicago district of the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Wednesday that Northwestern football players qualify as employees of the university and can unionize...
Teachers stage one-day strike in England and Wales  The Guardian   ...Thousands of schools across England and Wales will face disruption and closures today as teachers stage a one-day national walkout over pay and conditions...
Fast Food Managers Prefer 'Stature' To Overtime Pay, Wealthy CEO Says  Huffington Post   ...Fast food CEO Andy Puzder took to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday to rip into a White House proposal to raise the wages of low-paid managers who work unpaid overtime hours...
Almagamated Transit Union says overtime exemptions create 'Sweatshops on Wheels'  Examiner   ...Union says that bus drivers have become the scapegoats for accidents caused by workers who are forced to work more than 15 hour days just to make ends meet…
Koch Brothers Invade Tiny Iron County, Wisconsin  The Daily Beast   ...A mining town of 6,000 people isn’t too small for billionaires to mess with to get their way. Inside the race bringing in big money...
Global Horizons Found Liable For Thai Worker Abuse  Associated Press   ...A federal judge has found a California-based labor contractor liable for discrimination and abuse of hundreds of Thai workers at Hawaii farms...
Miscellaneous
Housing WatchdogSlams Massive Property Inspection Industry  Huffington Post   ...The inspectors who decide whether homes have been abandoned and are ready for foreclosure are doing such a terrible job that the whole system requires a major overhaul, and maybe should be scrapped altogether, a government watchdog warned on Tuesday...

 

Sallie Mae becomes 50th corporation to drop ALEC

The right-wing legislative machine lost another corporate ally today when student loan giant Sallie Mae became the 50th corporation to leave ALEC.

The decision follows months of pressure by student groups outraged that the company's profits from student debt were supporting ALEC's anti-student and anti-worker agenda.

Think Progress reports:

...given ALEC’s work in favor of privatizing K-12 and higher education, thousands of students signed an online petition encouraging Sallie Mae -- which manages or services more than $200 billion in education loans -- urging the company to drop its support of the group.

Student organizer Chris Hicks told PR Watch that the news is a big victory in the fight against student debt. But he said there is still a long way to go:

It’s no accident that Sallie Mae has decided to leave ALEC -- from the shareholder meeting in May and the meeting students and graduates had with CEO Jack Remondi in June to the nearly 15,000 petition signatures gathered in August, students have shown Sallie Mae they are serious about their demands and are not going away.

There is much more work to be done, but this is definitely a first step to hold Sallie Mae accountable for their business practices.

ALEC remains a leading force in the war against working families, crafting model legislation in states throughout the country designed to cripple unions, dismantle workers' rights, disenfranchise middle class voters and destroy public education. ALEC has been behind just about every effort to pass anti-worker laws like right to work for less and voter suppression bills in state legislatures nationwide.

But over the years activists and labor groups have put the spotlight on ALEC, shaming dozens of its corporate members into exiting the shadowy syndicate of right-wing business interests.

Sallie Mae's departure is especially welcome given its role in holding students hostage with high-interest student loans while ALEC promotes the privatization of education. The corporate-backed campaign to privatize our schools -- from kindergarten to college -- is all about turning higher profits for companies like Sallie Mae while sinking the children of American workers deeper into poverty.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa recently wrote:

Working people struggle and fight to form unions so their children can have better lives than they do. Higher education has long been the stepping stone to a better life.  But that stone is being swept away by a tide of student debt.

The numbers tell a frightening story: As many as 30 percent of borrowers may be delinquent on their student loan debt. More students are borrowing than ever before, and they’re borrowing more – the average loan has increased by 49 percent, to $24,803, since 2005. Today, the average student in this country graduates with $26,600 in loan debt.

That’s hardly a way to get started in life when good jobs are scarcer than ever for recent college graduates.  

With Sallie Mae out of ALEC, students and workers have won another victory for education and against the right-wing corporate agenda. 

Today's Teamster News 07.25.13

Labor and Human Rights Coalition, including Teamsters, Call for Suspension of Trade Discussion with Vietnam  IBT   ...Yesterday, a coalition of labor and human rights leaders called on negotiations with Vietnam around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be suspended until the country can prove it has met basic labor, environmental and human right standards...
SCI is a Bad Neighbor, Forcing Teamsters Out on Strike   IBT   ...SCI, a $3.5 billion corporation which operates 16 funeral homes in the Chicagoland area, forced its Local 727 Teamsters out on an unfair labor practices strike on July 2. Visit http://www.integrityinillinois.com/ for updates on their fight for fairness. View the video here...
The Teamsters donate $40,000 to the victims of Lac-Mégantic  Canada Newswire   ...Teamsters Canada has collected $40,000 from its locals throughout the country and it will be donated to help out the victims of the Lac-Mégantic rail tragedy...
Teamster nursing staff at ECRMC in contract negotiations with hospital  Imperial Valley Press   ...El Centro Regional Medical Center’s nursing staff has presented the hospital with a financial proposal as part of its first contract with the hospital as an organized labor group, a representative from Teamsters Local 542 confirmed...
BLET wants feds to mandate 2-member train crews  Associated Press   ...Most railroads in the U.S. use at least two crew members to operate freight trains. But there's no federal rule to prevent them from using one employee as did a Maine-based railroad whose train, while unattended, careened into a Canadian town, causing an explosion and fire that killed 47 people…
Some CPD officers seek to join Teamsters Local 142   Chesterton Tribune   ...Within the next 30 to 60 days, full-time employees of the Chesterton (Indiana) Police Department -- both sworn officers and civilians -- could put unionization to the vote...
Teamsters Support Vance-Cooks for U.S. Public Printer  IBT   ...George Tedeschi, on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has written Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in support of the nomination of Davita Vance-Cooks as U.S. Public Printer...
Fired Walmart Workers Arrested in Protest at Yahoo Headquarters  The Nation   ...Five activists were arrested at Yahoo! headquarters Monday afternoon in a protest over the firing of eleven Walmart employees who this month went on strike...
Wal-Mart Workers Launch Surprise Strike Over Safety Issues  Mint Press News   ...At least 30 non-union Wal-Mart warehouse workers in California launched a surprise two-day strike this morning to protest alleged retaliation for exposing safety risks...
Wisconsin Capitol Protest Leads To Two Dozen Arrests As Police Crack Down On Anti-GOP Demonstration  Huffington Post   ...Police made numerous arrests inside the Wisconsin's Capitol building on Wednesday, more than two years after tens of thousands of Wisconsinites filled the rotunda in Madison to protest Gov. Scott Walker's (R) budget...
Chicago Teachers Protest Layoffs, Chanting ‘Emanuel Has Got To Go!’  In These Times   ...Bravo and Johnson were among several hundred teachers, parents and community members marching outside the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday morning, protesting the layoffs of more than 2,100 teachers and staff in the past week and other public school cuts...
Detroit firefighters protest outside of bankruptcy hearing  Detroit News   ...A group of about 40 Detroit firefighters joined protesters gathered outside the downtown federal courthouse Wednesday, to fight against expected cuts to pensions and the potential loss of public safety positions, as lawyers gathered inside for the first hearing in the historic bankruptcy case...
Congress Tells Detroit to Forget Financial Bailout  Bloomberg   ...Lawmakers in Congress are dismissing the possibility of a federal bailout for Detroit, the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy....
Hundreds protest Pittsburgh’s most notorious low-wage employers  WPXI-TV   ...Hundreds of protestors joined together Wednesday to call on Pittsburgh’s most notorious low wage employers...
North Carolina Senate Passes the Most Draconian Voter Suppression Bill Ever  Politicususa   ...This bill makes registering hard and voting harder – with the added bonus of longer voting lines.  To add insult to the pretense that this is about preserving election integrity, they are making it easier for thugs like True the Vote and the Voter Integrity Project to intimidate voters and for outside groups to help Art Pope buy the government...
OSHA To Require Flight Department Hazmat Training  Aviation International News   ...New regulations from the OSHA mandate the training of thousands of airline workers by December 1 to educate them on how to identify and protect themselves from hazardous chemicals used in the workplace...
Are Shrinking Unions Making Workers Poorer?  The Atlantic   ...Here's what we know: Union membership has been nearly cut in half over the past thirty years. During that time, income inequality grew, with the top one percent of wealthiest Americans seeing especially big gains in their pre- and post-tax income. And although the economy has grown, wages have not…
Worker Centers Offer a Backdoor Approach to Union Organizing  Wall Street Journal   ...Juan Campis was sweating in the 90-plus degree heat as he whipped a white towel across a gleaming black Chevy TrailBlazer at a carwash here in Bronx, N.Y.—one of six in the city that was unionized in recent months with help from two nonprofit community groups…
3 Months After Texas Fertilizer Explosion, Workplace Safety Still Ignored   Mint Press News ...Long after the explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, killed 15 people, workplace safety violations continue to plague workers across the U.S...
New Illinois law to fight misclassification of workers  WREX13   ...A bill addressing the misclassification of construction workers as independent contractors has been signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn., meant to fight employers who missclassify their workers in an attempt to avoid paying state employment taxes, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and overtime...
Senate passes student loan interest rate compromise  Politico   ...A hard fought deal to keep student loan interest rates down cleared the Senate Wednesday on a 81-18 vote, despite strong opposition from liberal Democrats who believe it would make skyrocketing student debt even worse in the long run...