Trade
What Happens in Geneva ... The Mammoth Global Trade Agreement You’ve Never Heard Of In These Times ...our governments are negotiating further deregulation of the financial sector, solely in the interests of large financial corporations,” says Daniel Bertossa, senior policy and advocacy officer at Public Services International (PSI), a global public-sector union federation based in France...
US trade officials say it’s their way or the highway on TPP CIO ...Certification means that the US can refuse to bring an agreement with a country into force until the country has altered its laws to satisfy the US understanding of its obligations under the agreement...
War on Workers
What the NLRB Announcement on McDonald's Means AFL-CIO ...Historically McDonald's has claimed it has no authority over wages or complaints of workers' rights violations at its franchise locations because that is up to the individual owners, but the NLRB general counsel determined McDonald's could be liable as a joint employer in these kinds of situations...
Seeking New Start, Finding Steep Cost New York Times ...Millions of unemployed Americans like Mr. DeGrella have trained for new careers as part of the Workforce Investment Act, a $3.1 billion federal program that, in an unusual act of bipartisanship, was reauthorized by Congress last month with little public discussion about its effectiveness. Like Mr. DeGrella, many have not found the promised new career...
Report Says I.R.S. Inaction May Have Increased Fraud Risk New York Times ...A government investigator said Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service failed to do background checks on some private contractors who handled confidential information, exposing more than a million taxpayers to a risk of fraud and identity theft...
Ferguson Unrest Shows Poverty Grows Fastest in Suburbs Bloomberg ...In Ferguson, Missouri, a community of 21,000 where the poverty rate doubled since 2000, the dynamic has bred animosity over racial segregation and economic inequality...
Across Asia's borders, labor activists team up to press wage claims Reuters ...Negotiations over pay and working conditions have typically remained within national borders, but activists are now bringing more muscle to the table and putting more pressure on employers and governments by using shared experiences in nearby markets...
Miscellaneous
Transporting Bakken crude by rail a volatile situation Chronicle Times ...As federal regulators continue investigating why tank cars on three trains carrying North Dakota crude oil have exploded in the past year, energy experts say part of the problem might be that some producers are deliberately leaving too much propane in their product, making the oil riskier to transport by rail...
Bank Overseer PwC Faces Penalty and Sidelining of Regulatory Consulting Unit New York Times ...The giant consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers occupies a position of trust on Wall Street, acting as a shadow regulator of sorts that promises the government an impartial look inside the world’s biggest banks. But the firm — hired and paid by the banks it examines — has now landed in the regulatory spotlight for obscuring some of the same misconduct it was supposed to unearth...
Monday, August 18, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.17.14
Trade
Why Germany Is Backing Away From a Trade Deal That Lets Corporations Sue the Government truthout ...Germany might reject a new trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. The deal is called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. It's part of a new wave of large, aggressive trade deals that also includes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) between 12 countries of the Pacific Rim...
State Battles
Get pumped for a Moral Week of Action! NC State AFL-CIO ...Join us for seven consecutive days of action at the North Carolina State Capitol to expose and challenge the destructive laws coming out of Raleigh...
How Zephyr Teachout Became a Contender The Nation ...Andrew Cuomo’s unlikely challenger for Governor of New York is gaining endorsements and giving him a headache...they have managed to tap into some of the profound frustration that people feel with a governor who has come to symbolize the corporate-friendly wing of the Democratic party...
On Wall Street, ‘Right-to-Work’ Means a Wider Gap Between Rich & Poor (opinion) CT News Junkie ...As part of “Employee Freedom Week,” a nationally coordinated effort to convince workers to drop out of their unions, ads are running in Connecticut urging home healthcare workers to opt out. This is a thinly veiled attempt to convince these workers to act against their own self-interest, and could have lethal repercussions in an industry where collective bargaining rights have not only alleviated home health aides’ difficult working conditions, but also have helped prolong their patients’ lives...
War on Workers
Sandwich Artists Unionize In These Times ...On July 18, after a three-month campaign, employees of a Subway franchise in Bloomsbury, N.J. voted 8-5 to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Local 108...
More Jobs Are Open, but They’re Filling Slowly New York Times ...In a report this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that employers reported in June that they had 4.5 million available jobs that they were unable to fill. That is the highest number since 2007, and more than twice as high as the figure in October 2009, when the economy was officially beginning to recover but there were no signs of that in the labor market...
Cry for Argentina: Fiscal Mismanagement or Pillage? truthout ...Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has spent over a decade aggressively trying to force Argentina to pay down nearly $1.3 billion in sovereign debt. Elliott would get about $300 million for bonds that Argentina claims it picked up for $48 million. Where most creditors have accepted payment at a 70% loss, Elliott Management would thus get a 600% return...
Miscellaneous
How High Up Did the Madoff Fraud Go at JPMorgan? Wall Street on Parade ...It is universally agreed among these authors, the prosecutors and the trustee for the Madoff victims’ fund that JPMorgan Chase (or its predecessor banks) stood at the center of the fraud as Madoff’s commercial bank for more than 20 years. It’s the lack of criminal prosecutions against the JPMorgan wrongdoers that has incensed these attorneys to launch the book and web site...
You Can Get Hacked Just By Watching This Cat Video on YouTube The Intercept ...The only thing you need to do to render your computer’s secrets—your private conversations, banking information, photographs—transparent to prying eyes is watch a cute cat video on YouTube, and catch the interest of a nation-state or law enforcement agency that has $1 million or so to spare...
Why Germany Is Backing Away From a Trade Deal That Lets Corporations Sue the Government truthout ...Germany might reject a new trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. The deal is called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. It's part of a new wave of large, aggressive trade deals that also includes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) between 12 countries of the Pacific Rim...
State Battles
Get pumped for a Moral Week of Action! NC State AFL-CIO ...Join us for seven consecutive days of action at the North Carolina State Capitol to expose and challenge the destructive laws coming out of Raleigh...
How Zephyr Teachout Became a Contender The Nation ...Andrew Cuomo’s unlikely challenger for Governor of New York is gaining endorsements and giving him a headache...they have managed to tap into some of the profound frustration that people feel with a governor who has come to symbolize the corporate-friendly wing of the Democratic party...
On Wall Street, ‘Right-to-Work’ Means a Wider Gap Between Rich & Poor (opinion) CT News Junkie ...As part of “Employee Freedom Week,” a nationally coordinated effort to convince workers to drop out of their unions, ads are running in Connecticut urging home healthcare workers to opt out. This is a thinly veiled attempt to convince these workers to act against their own self-interest, and could have lethal repercussions in an industry where collective bargaining rights have not only alleviated home health aides’ difficult working conditions, but also have helped prolong their patients’ lives...
War on Workers
Sandwich Artists Unionize In These Times ...On July 18, after a three-month campaign, employees of a Subway franchise in Bloomsbury, N.J. voted 8-5 to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Local 108...
More Jobs Are Open, but They’re Filling Slowly New York Times ...In a report this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that employers reported in June that they had 4.5 million available jobs that they were unable to fill. That is the highest number since 2007, and more than twice as high as the figure in October 2009, when the economy was officially beginning to recover but there were no signs of that in the labor market...
Cry for Argentina: Fiscal Mismanagement or Pillage? truthout ...Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has spent over a decade aggressively trying to force Argentina to pay down nearly $1.3 billion in sovereign debt. Elliott would get about $300 million for bonds that Argentina claims it picked up for $48 million. Where most creditors have accepted payment at a 70% loss, Elliott Management would thus get a 600% return...
Miscellaneous
How High Up Did the Madoff Fraud Go at JPMorgan? Wall Street on Parade ...It is universally agreed among these authors, the prosecutors and the trustee for the Madoff victims’ fund that JPMorgan Chase (or its predecessor banks) stood at the center of the fraud as Madoff’s commercial bank for more than 20 years. It’s the lack of criminal prosecutions against the JPMorgan wrongdoers that has incensed these attorneys to launch the book and web site...
You Can Get Hacked Just By Watching This Cat Video on YouTube The Intercept ...The only thing you need to do to render your computer’s secrets—your private conversations, banking information, photographs—transparent to prying eyes is watch a cute cat video on YouTube, and catch the interest of a nation-state or law enforcement agency that has $1 million or so to spare...
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.16.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Battle Senator’s Scheme To Lengthen Truckers’ Hours Behind The Wheel People's World ...Saying that lengthening the consecutive hours truckers could stay behind the wheel endangers both truckers and other drivers, the Teamsters are battling a Republican senator's scheme to do just that...
Teamsters Reach Deal Ending Quixote Studios Boycott Deadline Hollywood ...The deal, which covers about 30 drivers, also calls for an election to see if the company’s 80 warehouse workers want to be represented by the union as well...
Tom O’Donnell Replaces Leo Reed As Director Of Teamsters Deadline Hollywood ...Tom O’Donnell, the current president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 817 in New York, has been named director of the Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trades Division, replacing the venerable Leo Reed, who left the post in January after 25 years at the helm...
Battle Lines Drawn As J.R. Simplot And Teamsters Local 120 Continue To Square Off Valley News Live ...The Union members today overwhelmingly voted down some new changes to their contracts this afternoon and say they will continue to walk the picket line 24/7. The Union’s contract expired June 1st. They were hoping for a new deal, but they say it never came...
Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Brings Fight Against Republic Services To Denver MarketWatch ...Tonight, Teamsters in Denver attending the Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Convention went to the Colorado Rockies game to educate Denver residents about the illegal actions of Republic Services...
Trade
Certification Allows US Trade Negotiators to Rewrite TPP Copyright Rules EFF ...The United States, exclusively amongst the dozen negotiating partners, is reserving the right to vet other countries' implementation of the agreement before its own obligations come into effect. This has worrying implications for other countries planning to take advantage of whatever flexibilities remain in the TPP text after the negotiations are finished...
State Battles
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Joins Lawsuit Against 'Discriminatory' Seattle Minimum Wage Hike Huffington Post ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce signed onto an amicus brief Tuesday in support of the International Franchise Association's (IFA) lawsuit against a “discriminatory” provision in Seattle’s recently passed minimum wage increase...
Federal Judge Denies Stay Of Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Jurist ...A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by Wisconsin's Attorney General JB Van Hollen to stay the his April ruling against the state's voter identification law. The April ruling found that the Act 23 requirement that all residents present photo ID when voting violated the Voting Rights Act and the US Constitution...
War On Workers
In the sharing economy, a rift over worker classification Boston Globe ...A class-action lawsuit filed this summer in Massachusetts and California courts is challenging that. The suit asserts that Uber improperly classifies its drivers, who own their cars and use Uber’s smartphone app to get work, as independent contractors. No sick time, no health insurance, no 401k contributions...
NC Forest Service Employee Dies In Tree Accident WSOC ...Tuttle State Educational Forest in Lenoir was closed Thursday after a North Carolina Forest Service employee died in an accident there Wednesday afternoon...
Bank Of America Could Get Tax Break On Part Of $16 Billion Mortgage Settlement Charlotte Observer ...As Bank of America prepares for a possible multibillion-dollar settlement with the government, the deal is expected to share a feature common to similar settlements with other banks – a big portion that’s tax-deductible as a business expense...
Miscellaneous
NSA Cyberwarfare Could Pick The Wrong Targets, Snowden Says Fox News ...Snowden described MonsterMind as problematic, noting that cyberattacks are often routed through computers in “innocent” third countries. This raises the possibility of U.S. counter attacks against the wrong targets. “You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia,” he said. “And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?”...
Teamsters Battle Senator’s Scheme To Lengthen Truckers’ Hours Behind The Wheel People's World ...Saying that lengthening the consecutive hours truckers could stay behind the wheel endangers both truckers and other drivers, the Teamsters are battling a Republican senator's scheme to do just that...
Teamsters Reach Deal Ending Quixote Studios Boycott Deadline Hollywood ...The deal, which covers about 30 drivers, also calls for an election to see if the company’s 80 warehouse workers want to be represented by the union as well...
Tom O’Donnell Replaces Leo Reed As Director Of Teamsters Deadline Hollywood ...Tom O’Donnell, the current president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 817 in New York, has been named director of the Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trades Division, replacing the venerable Leo Reed, who left the post in January after 25 years at the helm...
Battle Lines Drawn As J.R. Simplot And Teamsters Local 120 Continue To Square Off Valley News Live ...The Union members today overwhelmingly voted down some new changes to their contracts this afternoon and say they will continue to walk the picket line 24/7. The Union’s contract expired June 1st. They were hoping for a new deal, but they say it never came...
Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Brings Fight Against Republic Services To Denver MarketWatch ...Tonight, Teamsters in Denver attending the Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Convention went to the Colorado Rockies game to educate Denver residents about the illegal actions of Republic Services...
Trade
Certification Allows US Trade Negotiators to Rewrite TPP Copyright Rules EFF ...The United States, exclusively amongst the dozen negotiating partners, is reserving the right to vet other countries' implementation of the agreement before its own obligations come into effect. This has worrying implications for other countries planning to take advantage of whatever flexibilities remain in the TPP text after the negotiations are finished...
State Battles
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Joins Lawsuit Against 'Discriminatory' Seattle Minimum Wage Hike Huffington Post ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce signed onto an amicus brief Tuesday in support of the International Franchise Association's (IFA) lawsuit against a “discriminatory” provision in Seattle’s recently passed minimum wage increase...
Federal Judge Denies Stay Of Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Jurist ...A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by Wisconsin's Attorney General JB Van Hollen to stay the his April ruling against the state's voter identification law. The April ruling found that the Act 23 requirement that all residents present photo ID when voting violated the Voting Rights Act and the US Constitution...
War On Workers
In the sharing economy, a rift over worker classification Boston Globe ...A class-action lawsuit filed this summer in Massachusetts and California courts is challenging that. The suit asserts that Uber improperly classifies its drivers, who own their cars and use Uber’s smartphone app to get work, as independent contractors. No sick time, no health insurance, no 401k contributions...
NC Forest Service Employee Dies In Tree Accident WSOC ...Tuttle State Educational Forest in Lenoir was closed Thursday after a North Carolina Forest Service employee died in an accident there Wednesday afternoon...
Bank Of America Could Get Tax Break On Part Of $16 Billion Mortgage Settlement Charlotte Observer ...As Bank of America prepares for a possible multibillion-dollar settlement with the government, the deal is expected to share a feature common to similar settlements with other banks – a big portion that’s tax-deductible as a business expense...
Miscellaneous
NSA Cyberwarfare Could Pick The Wrong Targets, Snowden Says Fox News ...Snowden described MonsterMind as problematic, noting that cyberattacks are often routed through computers in “innocent” third countries. This raises the possibility of U.S. counter attacks against the wrong targets. “You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia,” he said. “And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?”...
Friday, August 15, 2014
Walmart spin vs. Walmart fact: a guide
Our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy just launched a new website that fact checks Walmart's claims in its advertisements and statements.
Said Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy:
Walmart likes to say it is committed to supporting families, communities, and our economy, but the facts often tell a different story.They sure do. Here's a sample:
Walmart spin:
We've committed $2 billion to fight hunger in the U.S.Walmart fact:
Subsidies and tax breaks for Walmart and the Walton family cost taxpayers approximately $7.8 billion per year, including about $6.2 billion in assistance to Walmart workers due to low wages and inadequate benefits, according to Americans for Tax Fairness.Walmart spin:
"We believe we can create more American jobs by supporting more American manufacturing."Walmart fact:
Walmart's imports from China coast 200,000 U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2006, according to the Economic Policy Institute.Walmart spin:
"We put the needs of our customers above our own."Walmart fact:
Walmart was ranked last among 55 supermarkets in a 2014 survey of 27,000 Consumer Reports subscribers.Walmart spin:
"We're working toward three aspirational sustainability goals: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment."Walmart fact:
Walmart’s self-reported greenhouse gas emissions have grown 14 percent since 2005 – the year the company launched its “sustainability” campaign. Each of Walmart's 3,200 supercenters uses as much energy as nearly 1,100 homes, according to the Sierra Club.
Today's Teamster News 08.15.14
Teamster News
Democratic Party, Teamsters Challenge Yost's Suggestions Youngstown Vindicator ...On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party and Teamsters Local 377 blasted the audit’s recommendations for $384,000 in annual concessions in the Teamsters local’s labor contract. That local represents 51 of the engineer’s office employees...
Any Problems With Garbage Deal Will Belong To City (opinion) Contra Costa Times ...Our members will be fine working for either company. We've had our share of problems with both of them, just as we've helped make both a success...
Trade
EU-Canada Trade Deal Leak ‘Ridicules’ TTIP Consultation EurActiv ...The leaked text of an EU-Canada free trade deal confirms fears that multinationals may sue EU states in special tribunals for enacting laws that upset their profit forecasts, and makes a mockery of public consultation on a free trade deal with the US, campaigners say...
Wisconsin Farmers Union President Cautions Against Free Trade’s False Promises Bloomer News ...Behind the rosy projections about the benefits of free trade, history presents us with the cold hard facts. The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been devastating for farmers in the U.S., and we are headed down the same path with the current Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) proposals...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment under Walker Econbrowser ...Since January 2011, Wisconsin private nonfarm payroll employment growth has been a cumulative 2.8% lower than that for the United States as a whole...
Powerful D.C. Lobbies Join Fight Against Seattle Minimum Wage Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Two of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, D.C. — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association — have joined in a lawsuit against Seattle’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage ordinance...
Labor sharks sink teeth into low-wage immigrant workers AlJazeera America ...In New York, employment agencies face few penalties for charging advance fees for jobs that don’€™t exist...
War On Workers
Wal-Mart’s Sales Stagnation Reignites Concern About Economy Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)’s latest struggles to revive U.S. sales, following a disappointing Commerce Department report earlier this week, add to evidence that the economy isn’t recovering as quickly as expected...
Fed: Typical American family doesn't have $400 on hand WWL ...The Federal Reserve survey shows a typical American household cannot raise $400 without borrowing money or selling possessions...
Europe’s Greater Depression is worse than the 1930s Washington Post ...it's been six-and-a-half years, and eurozone GDP is still 1.9 percent lower than it was before the Great Recession began. It "only" took the U.S. economy seven years to get back to where it'd been before the Great Depression hit...
Among Workers At Revel There's Shock, Anxiety, Uncertainty, And Even Some Optimism Philadelphia Inquirer ...The 3,200 workers who have made Revel home the last 28 months are hoping against hope that the casino snags a buyer before its targeted Sept. 10 closing to save their jobs and a key piece of Atlantic City's skyline...
Worker Killed In Lamar County Plant Fire KXII ...A worker has been killed in a fire Wednesday at a trailer manufacturing facility in Lamar County. News 12 has learned one employee was found dead just before 2 p.m...
Congressman Who Voted Against Minimum Wage Hike Complains He Hasn't Gotten A Raise Huffington Post ...Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) says Congress can't afford a pay cut because its last salary increase occurred six years ago...
Starbucks to Revise Policies to End Irregular Schedules for Its 130,000 Baristas New York Times ...The change comes amid a growing push to curb scheduling practices, enabled by sophisticated software, that can cause havoc in employees’ lives: giving only a few days’ notice of working hours; sending workers home early when sales are slow; and shifting hours significantly from week to week...
Berlin Bans Uber App Citing Passenger Safety BBC News ...It is the latest setback for Uber, which has faced bans and protests in cities across Europe. The Berlin authority said passengers may not be covered by insurance because they aren't traditional cabs...
Virgin America Flight Attendants Vote To Join Union Huffington Post ... The attendants would be the first Virgin America employees to be represented by a labor union...
Miscellaneous
Improving Our Railways: A Key Part of Rebuilding America manufacture this ...Virtually every wealthy nation in the world has invested in a high-speed rail network—with the striking exception of the United States. From Japan to France, even from Turkey to Russia, trains travel through the country at speeds of 150 miles per hour or above...
Where We Came From, State by State New York Times ...We charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900. See how your state has changed...
Koch brothers group to keep pressure on Common Core USA Today ...Convinced of wins during last week's elections in Tennessee, a group led by the billionaire Koch brothers has vowed to continue to spend aggressively in the state in pursuit of derailing Common Core academic standards here...
Democratic Party, Teamsters Challenge Yost's Suggestions Youngstown Vindicator ...On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party and Teamsters Local 377 blasted the audit’s recommendations for $384,000 in annual concessions in the Teamsters local’s labor contract. That local represents 51 of the engineer’s office employees...
Any Problems With Garbage Deal Will Belong To City (opinion) Contra Costa Times ...Our members will be fine working for either company. We've had our share of problems with both of them, just as we've helped make both a success...
Trade
EU-Canada Trade Deal Leak ‘Ridicules’ TTIP Consultation EurActiv ...The leaked text of an EU-Canada free trade deal confirms fears that multinationals may sue EU states in special tribunals for enacting laws that upset their profit forecasts, and makes a mockery of public consultation on a free trade deal with the US, campaigners say...
Wisconsin Farmers Union President Cautions Against Free Trade’s False Promises Bloomer News ...Behind the rosy projections about the benefits of free trade, history presents us with the cold hard facts. The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been devastating for farmers in the U.S., and we are headed down the same path with the current Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) proposals...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment under Walker Econbrowser ...Since January 2011, Wisconsin private nonfarm payroll employment growth has been a cumulative 2.8% lower than that for the United States as a whole...
Powerful D.C. Lobbies Join Fight Against Seattle Minimum Wage Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Two of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, D.C. — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association — have joined in a lawsuit against Seattle’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage ordinance...
Labor sharks sink teeth into low-wage immigrant workers AlJazeera America ...In New York, employment agencies face few penalties for charging advance fees for jobs that don’€™t exist...
War On Workers
Wal-Mart’s Sales Stagnation Reignites Concern About Economy Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)’s latest struggles to revive U.S. sales, following a disappointing Commerce Department report earlier this week, add to evidence that the economy isn’t recovering as quickly as expected...
Fed: Typical American family doesn't have $400 on hand WWL ...The Federal Reserve survey shows a typical American household cannot raise $400 without borrowing money or selling possessions...
Europe’s Greater Depression is worse than the 1930s Washington Post ...it's been six-and-a-half years, and eurozone GDP is still 1.9 percent lower than it was before the Great Recession began. It "only" took the U.S. economy seven years to get back to where it'd been before the Great Depression hit...
Among Workers At Revel There's Shock, Anxiety, Uncertainty, And Even Some Optimism Philadelphia Inquirer ...The 3,200 workers who have made Revel home the last 28 months are hoping against hope that the casino snags a buyer before its targeted Sept. 10 closing to save their jobs and a key piece of Atlantic City's skyline...
Worker Killed In Lamar County Plant Fire KXII ...A worker has been killed in a fire Wednesday at a trailer manufacturing facility in Lamar County. News 12 has learned one employee was found dead just before 2 p.m...
Congressman Who Voted Against Minimum Wage Hike Complains He Hasn't Gotten A Raise Huffington Post ...Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) says Congress can't afford a pay cut because its last salary increase occurred six years ago...
Starbucks to Revise Policies to End Irregular Schedules for Its 130,000 Baristas New York Times ...The change comes amid a growing push to curb scheduling practices, enabled by sophisticated software, that can cause havoc in employees’ lives: giving only a few days’ notice of working hours; sending workers home early when sales are slow; and shifting hours significantly from week to week...
Berlin Bans Uber App Citing Passenger Safety BBC News ...It is the latest setback for Uber, which has faced bans and protests in cities across Europe. The Berlin authority said passengers may not be covered by insurance because they aren't traditional cabs...
Virgin America Flight Attendants Vote To Join Union Huffington Post ... The attendants would be the first Virgin America employees to be represented by a labor union...
Miscellaneous
Improving Our Railways: A Key Part of Rebuilding America manufacture this ...Virtually every wealthy nation in the world has invested in a high-speed rail network—with the striking exception of the United States. From Japan to France, even from Turkey to Russia, trains travel through the country at speeds of 150 miles per hour or above...
Where We Came From, State by State New York Times ...We charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900. See how your state has changed...
Koch brothers group to keep pressure on Common Core USA Today ...Convinced of wins during last week's elections in Tennessee, a group led by the billionaire Koch brothers has vowed to continue to spend aggressively in the state in pursuit of derailing Common Core academic standards here...
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Congressman complains he hasn't had a raise, votes against minimum wage
Nebraska Republican Lee Terry, a U.S. congressman taking home $174,500 in base salary, is upset because he hasn't had a raise in six years.
In 2013, he voted against raising the minimum wage from $7.25, where it has remained stuck for the past five years.
According to the Huffington Post, Terry's opponent wants to cut the salaries of members of Congress by 10 percent. Terry says he can't afford that. He also refused to give up his salary during last year's federal government shutdown.
 |
| Rep. Lee Terry. |
In 2013, he voted against raising the minimum wage from $7.25, where it has remained stuck for the past five years.
According to the Huffington Post, Terry's opponent wants to cut the salaries of members of Congress by 10 percent. Terry says he can't afford that. He also refused to give up his salary during last year's federal government shutdown.
"God bless them," he said of his colleagues. "But you know what? I've got a nice house and a kid in college, and I'll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That's just not going to fly."David Cay Johnston argues that raising the minimum wage benefits the next tier of workers above minimum wage earners. He notes that minimum wage earners actually got raises in 2007, 2008 and 2009. (And it was President George W. Bush who signed those increases into law.) Notes Johnston:
Each raised the minimum by 70 cents, lifting it to $7.25 an hour. Before Bush signed the increases into law, minimum wage workers had gone a decade with no increase. By 2007, inflation had reduced the value of their hourly pay to 77 cents on the 1997 dollar...Moreover, the spillover effect raised wages. Johnston explains:
...those who made up to about $2 an hour above the minimum also benefited from its increase, as their pay also rose because of what labor economists call thespillover effect, one of the best-documented and most studied areas of how minimum wage increases affect the economy. Raising the minimum wage in steps until it reaches $15 in today’s money would benefit workers making as much as $20 an hour because of this spillover effect...
...if cities, counties, states and Uncle Sam raise the minimum wage in steps until it is $15 in today’s dollars, the spillover would improve the pay of the almost 2 out of 3 workers who make less than $20 an hour.Here's why:
Higher pay draws more people into the labor market, and it means workers have more to spend on goods and services, which creates more demand to hire more workers as well as generating more profits for business owners. It also means less demand for food stamps and other government benefits, easing taxpayer burdens, even as prices rise a bit to cover higher labor costs.
Today's Teamster News 08.14.14
Teamster News
BLET organizes Illinois Railway short line workers teamster.org ...The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) scored a short line organizing victory last week as a majority of workers at Illinois Railway voted to make the BLET their designated collective bargaining representative...
Teamster at US Foods Seeks Information About Merger teamster.org ...Frank Rinetti, a Teamster member and employee of US Foods, recently sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeking information about the proposed Sysco-US Foods merger and he also outlines his concerns about the merger's impact on jobs...
Union teamsters met Wednesday, will vote Thursday KERO Bakersfield ...GET union employees met Wednesday to discuss the proposal from GET...
Trade
Five Tests Walmart Must Pass to Show its 'Made In America' Street Cred manufacture this ...If Walmart is truly serious about its pledge to help American manufacturers, the corporation will slash its imports into the U.S...
Country-Of-Origin-Labeling Dispute Threatens U.S. Exports, Jobs The Hill ...A long list of U.S.-manufactured goods and agricultural products are being threatened by a trade dispute about whether U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements discriminate against our bordering countries’ meat products. Absent quick action to settle the dispute, the governments of Canada and Mexico—currently the two largest markets for U.S. exports—could impose $2 billion in retaliatory tariffs that would endanger thousands of American jobs...
State Battles
Corporate front groups pushing laughable “National Employee Freedom Week” and other anti-union effort eclectablog ... “National Employee Freedom Week”... encourages union members to become freeloaders by leaving their unions while the unions continue to bargain for on their behalf for better wages, better working conditions, and better benefits...
Floridians tried to stop gerrymandering, and Republicans gerrymandered anyways. We’re about to see who wins. Washington Post ...If it passes muster with the courts in anything like its present form, it will have been a pretty major victory for the GOP in overcoming the so-called Fair Districts amendments -- and an equally large setback for redistricting reformers seeking to rein in partisan gerrymandering...
Christie: GOP governors to spend millions in Maine Associated Press ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie returned to Maine on Tuesday to help raise money for Gov. Paul LePage and predicted that the Republican Governors Association would spend millions of dollars in the state this fall to help LePage win a second term...
Record number of labor candidates prep to run for public office at New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School Politicker NJ ...A record-sized class of rank-and-file union members representing 23 local unions from across all sectors of the labor movement took part in the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School August 9-10, 2014, at the Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center in New Brunswick...
The Big Money Behind Walker’s Campaign Express Milwaukee ...Walker returned to the deep pockets of his recall mega-contributors, including Las Vegas gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. Adelson donated $250,000 to Walker in 2012...
Labor and small businesses team up on California franchising law MSNBC ...the theory appears to be that protecting franchisors against the threat of closure will make it easier for them to do things like raise workers’ wages...
War On Workers
Electric Worker Hit By Train, Killed In Edmond KWTV ...The train was traveling southbound when it hit and killed Edmond Electric Worker, Bob Waterson Tuesday evening. Edmond city officials say Waterson was with the company for more than 34 years...
Rail CEOs to Investors: "Bomb Trains" Safe At Almost Any Speed DeSmog Blog ...Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) recently said it would proceed with plans to increase speeds for oil-by-rail unit trains in Devil’s Lake, N.D. to 60 MPH from 30 MPH, despite opposition from local officials...
What’s Lost in the Market Basket Stories Economic Policy Institute ...they have succeeded by taking a distinctly high-road approach: the company takes care of its workers, paying decent wages, offering benefits to full- and part-time staff, and providing employees with a profit-sharing plan. At the same time, Market Basket still offers prices lower than its competitors, Walmart included...
Union Workers In Maine Join Protest Of FairPoint Outsourcing Plans Portland Press Herald ...Hundreds of unionized FairPoint Communications Inc. workers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire staged “informational protests” Tuesday to educate customers about the negative impact of company plans to boost outsourcing, union representatives said...
For Largest U.S. Companies, Jobs Growth Has Lagged Profits, Revenues Reuters ...From 2001 to 2013, inflation-adjusted revenue at 100 of the largest publicly traded companies grew 71 percent and inflation-adjusted operating profit rose 150 percent. Global headcount reported in company financial filings rose 31 percent...
Los Angeles To Vote On Killing Major Wall Street Deal As City Drowns In Financial Fees International Business Times ...Los Angeles lawmakers were expected to vote Wednesday on a proposal to renegotiate or terminate an interest rate swap deal from the mid-2000s that critics say now costs the city millions of dollars a year in fees. If successful, the initiative could make the city the nation's largest to challenge ballooning Wall Street levies that accompany similar interest rate swap deals throughout the nation...
Front and center: Amendment 3 pushes teacher tenure into the spotlight Southeast Missourian ...if teachers have been teaching in the same district for five years, they're granted due process rights by statute. "Before that, they're at-will," Meyer said. Five years, she said, is probably the longest probationary period used around the country...
Miscellaneous
Does Your Boss Know You’re Reading This? Surveillance Technology Boosts Efficiency But Creates Workplace Issues Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...There are few laws and court cases to help companies or workers understand the limits, leaving some gray areas for protection of employees’ privacy...
BLET organizes Illinois Railway short line workers teamster.org ...The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) scored a short line organizing victory last week as a majority of workers at Illinois Railway voted to make the BLET their designated collective bargaining representative...
Teamster at US Foods Seeks Information About Merger teamster.org ...Frank Rinetti, a Teamster member and employee of US Foods, recently sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeking information about the proposed Sysco-US Foods merger and he also outlines his concerns about the merger's impact on jobs...
Union teamsters met Wednesday, will vote Thursday KERO Bakersfield ...GET union employees met Wednesday to discuss the proposal from GET...
Trade
Five Tests Walmart Must Pass to Show its 'Made In America' Street Cred manufacture this ...If Walmart is truly serious about its pledge to help American manufacturers, the corporation will slash its imports into the U.S...
Country-Of-Origin-Labeling Dispute Threatens U.S. Exports, Jobs The Hill ...A long list of U.S.-manufactured goods and agricultural products are being threatened by a trade dispute about whether U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements discriminate against our bordering countries’ meat products. Absent quick action to settle the dispute, the governments of Canada and Mexico—currently the two largest markets for U.S. exports—could impose $2 billion in retaliatory tariffs that would endanger thousands of American jobs...
State Battles
Corporate front groups pushing laughable “National Employee Freedom Week” and other anti-union effort eclectablog ... “National Employee Freedom Week”... encourages union members to become freeloaders by leaving their unions while the unions continue to bargain for on their behalf for better wages, better working conditions, and better benefits...
Floridians tried to stop gerrymandering, and Republicans gerrymandered anyways. We’re about to see who wins. Washington Post ...If it passes muster with the courts in anything like its present form, it will have been a pretty major victory for the GOP in overcoming the so-called Fair Districts amendments -- and an equally large setback for redistricting reformers seeking to rein in partisan gerrymandering...
Christie: GOP governors to spend millions in Maine Associated Press ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie returned to Maine on Tuesday to help raise money for Gov. Paul LePage and predicted that the Republican Governors Association would spend millions of dollars in the state this fall to help LePage win a second term...
Record number of labor candidates prep to run for public office at New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School Politicker NJ ...A record-sized class of rank-and-file union members representing 23 local unions from across all sectors of the labor movement took part in the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School August 9-10, 2014, at the Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center in New Brunswick...
The Big Money Behind Walker’s Campaign Express Milwaukee ...Walker returned to the deep pockets of his recall mega-contributors, including Las Vegas gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. Adelson donated $250,000 to Walker in 2012...
Labor and small businesses team up on California franchising law MSNBC ...the theory appears to be that protecting franchisors against the threat of closure will make it easier for them to do things like raise workers’ wages...
War On Workers
Electric Worker Hit By Train, Killed In Edmond KWTV ...The train was traveling southbound when it hit and killed Edmond Electric Worker, Bob Waterson Tuesday evening. Edmond city officials say Waterson was with the company for more than 34 years...
Rail CEOs to Investors: "Bomb Trains" Safe At Almost Any Speed DeSmog Blog ...Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) recently said it would proceed with plans to increase speeds for oil-by-rail unit trains in Devil’s Lake, N.D. to 60 MPH from 30 MPH, despite opposition from local officials...
What’s Lost in the Market Basket Stories Economic Policy Institute ...they have succeeded by taking a distinctly high-road approach: the company takes care of its workers, paying decent wages, offering benefits to full- and part-time staff, and providing employees with a profit-sharing plan. At the same time, Market Basket still offers prices lower than its competitors, Walmart included...
Union Workers In Maine Join Protest Of FairPoint Outsourcing Plans Portland Press Herald ...Hundreds of unionized FairPoint Communications Inc. workers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire staged “informational protests” Tuesday to educate customers about the negative impact of company plans to boost outsourcing, union representatives said...
For Largest U.S. Companies, Jobs Growth Has Lagged Profits, Revenues Reuters ...From 2001 to 2013, inflation-adjusted revenue at 100 of the largest publicly traded companies grew 71 percent and inflation-adjusted operating profit rose 150 percent. Global headcount reported in company financial filings rose 31 percent...
Los Angeles To Vote On Killing Major Wall Street Deal As City Drowns In Financial Fees International Business Times ...Los Angeles lawmakers were expected to vote Wednesday on a proposal to renegotiate or terminate an interest rate swap deal from the mid-2000s that critics say now costs the city millions of dollars a year in fees. If successful, the initiative could make the city the nation's largest to challenge ballooning Wall Street levies that accompany similar interest rate swap deals throughout the nation...
Front and center: Amendment 3 pushes teacher tenure into the spotlight Southeast Missourian ...if teachers have been teaching in the same district for five years, they're granted due process rights by statute. "Before that, they're at-will," Meyer said. Five years, she said, is probably the longest probationary period used around the country...
Miscellaneous
Does Your Boss Know You’re Reading This? Surveillance Technology Boosts Efficiency But Creates Workplace Issues Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...There are few laws and court cases to help companies or workers understand the limits, leaving some gray areas for protection of employees’ privacy...
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