Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Today's Teamster News 03.26.14

Teamster News
Teamsters strike agreement with Calif. port carrier on drivers’ right to unionize  Overdrive   ...The National Labor Relations Board has negotiated a settlement between a California carrier and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to post notice about the right to unionize...
CN Rail, Teamsters to meet Wednesday in last push for contract  Reuters   ...Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters Union will meet in Montreal on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 contractors, yard workers and traffic coordinators...
Beaufort County Bus Driver Reports Buses Unfit For Children  WSAV-TV   ...Some school bus drivers will begin to wage battle in Charleston tonight, based on what they call hazardous driving conditions. The group Teamsters Local 509 says their next stop is Beaufort County...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to discuss TPP tariffs this week in Washington  Global Post   ...Japan and the United States will hold bilateral talks linked to a Pacific free trade deal later this week in Washington, focusing with how to deal with tariffs Tokyo seeks to retain on sensitive farm products...
Several tech companies urge careful review in public of details in proposed TPP deal  Inside Counsel   ...Some prominent tech companies have registered their opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would govern in the Asia-Pacific region...
State Battles
Right to work bill on the Missouri House schedule  Rolla Daily News   ...Missouri House Republicans are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known as "right-to-work" when lawmakers return from their week long break...
Teamsters to rally Wednesday as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri  TeamsterNation   ...Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill...
'Moral Monday' protesters decry cuts to education, Medicaid  Mooresville Tribune   ...Monday’s event in Statesville was one in which organizers were granted a permit to gather on government property so there was virtually no risk of being arrested as more than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd over the course of about two hours, beginning at 5 p.m... 
Michigan Democrats say Rick Snyder administration helped cousin  Politico   ...Michigan Democrats charge that officials in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration moved to protect the business interests of the governor’s cousin from a round of steep budget cuts shortly after Snyder took office in 2011. They say not only were the cuts ultimately nixed, but George Snyder's furniture business contract was increased that year...
Lawyer hired by North Carolina in spill probe once represented coal firm  Associated Press   ...The lawyer hired to represent North Carolina's environmental agency during a federal investigation into its regulation of Duke Energy's coal ash dumps once represented the utility company in a different criminal probe...
States, D.C. are told to clean up voter rolls or be sued; Judicial Watch counters Obama  The Washington Times   ...Conservative public interest lawyers sent letters Monday giving the District of Columbia, Iowa and Colorado 90 days to prove they are taking steps to delete from their registration lists dead voters and former residents, or else face a lawsuit...
War on Workers
Unemployed, and heading toward foreclosure  New York Times   ...When Congress refusedto renew federal benefits for 1.7 million jobless Americans in December, they also cut a lifeline for homeowners who are now struggling to make their mortgage payments. About 54% of the long-term unemployed live in owner-occupied homes...
Goldman Sachs' Outrageous Scheme to Profit Off Jailed Young Offenders  Alternet   ... big banks have hauled in boatloads of money from their flawed, and even fraudulent, schemes directed at public funding needs, such as financial contraptions and deals involving complex derivatives and whatnot that were supposed to help governments pay for things like bridges and waterworks. ... cities and states frequently get hosed...
The Death of an Employer Scam  The American Prospect   ...One of the most pervasive scams that employers use to lower their workers’ wages is misclassification—that is, turning their workers into independent contractors or temps when they are actually employees... 
Koch brothers attacks expanding  Las Vegas Review-Journal   …U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s recent crusade against the oil billionaire Koch brothers is catching on in Washington, D.C. Now, the New York Times reports a top Democratic PAC is going to take aim at the brothers, too...
Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty AlterNet ...And it's much worse for black families...