Today's Teamster News 03.24.14

Teamster News
CCTA, Teamster negotiations fail; strike extends into second week  VT Digger   ...The bus drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 597, and the Chittenden County Transit Authority failed to come to an agreement after seven hours of negotiations on Saturday...
At least two issues divide CCTA and striking bus drivers  Burlington Free Press   ...Watterson said the talks centered on four issues highlighted by the union: compensation, cameras on the bus, including the use of anonymous complaints to discipline drivers, the use of part-time drivers and the length of the work day because of the split shifts expected for drivers...
The End of Jobs  In These Times   ...In a major victory for a long-running campaign,  port truck drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation in California have won the right to be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and to form a union...
Trade
The Disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership and Unconstitutional Fast Track Authority  Economy in Crisis   ...Thomas Hartmann explains why this is dangerous...
State Battles
GOP to push 'right to work'  Associated Press   ...Missouri House Republican leaders are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known to supporters as "right to work," when lawmakers return from their weeklong break...
War on Workers
Google, Apple, and Other Tech Titans’ Wage-Suppression Conspiracy Estimated to Cover One Million Workers  naked capitalism   ...Between approximately 2005 and 2009, Defendants Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar allegedly engaged in an “overarching conspiracy” to eliminate competition among Defendants for skilled labor. The conspiracy consisted of an interconnected web of express bilateral agreements...
Why Electricity Costs Are Major Cause of Poverty in the South  Alternet   ...families in the Southeast pay a higher percentage of their income on electricity...
Miscellaneous
Banker Deaths Leave Industry Concerned As Coroners Probe  Bloomberg   ...Coroners in London are preparing to investigate two apparent suicides as unexpected deaths by finance workers around the world have raised concerns about mental health and stress levels in the industry...
Carter fears NSA is spying on his emails  The Hill   ...Former President Jimmy Carter (D) says he thinks the National Security Agency might be monitoring his emails....Carter said he sends messages to foreign leaders via snail mail instead...

105 ALEC bills filed in 2 years to lower wages

Those charming folks from ALEC have filed 105 bills to lower wages since January 2011, according to a new report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).

ALEC is the dating service for state lawmakers and corporations. It's backed by a network of greedy billionaires, headed by the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. 

ALEC drafted bills to repeal state minimum wage laws, reduce the minimum wage for youth and tipped workers, weaken overtime protections and forbid living wage ordinances. One hundred five bills were introduced in 31 states, and 67 of those were sponsored or co-sponsored by ALEC members.

The good news: Only 11 passed. The bad news? As NELP puts it,

The persistent introduction of legislation to weaken or repeal wage standards drains the political momentum behind improving wages and workplace standards for low-paid workers by forcing a defensive fight over protecting the standards that already exist. As retail and fast-food workers in New York, Chicago, and cities across the country take collective action to improve wages in the nation’s fastest-growing low-wage industries — and as dozens of legislatures consider new proposals to increase minimum wages this year — ALEC’s wage suppression agenda serves as a significant source of inertia undermining the current push for better wages and workplace standards.

NELP notes the ALEC bills contribute to a climate that encourages attacks on workers, their wages and their pensions. ALEC has also drafted bills to weaken unions through No Rights At Work and making it illegal for employers to honor workers' voluntary request to have their dues deducted from their paychecks.

It isn't as if the employers can't afford to pay decent wages. NELP's press release states:

As wages remain low for workers in retail and food services, many of the largest employers in these sectors remain in strong financial condition: 78 percent of the 50 largest low-wage employers have been profitable every year for the past three years, and 63 percent are earning higher profits now than before the recession.

Greed knows no limits.