Sunday, June 22, 2014

Today's Teamster News 06.22.14

Trade
TISA  Angry Bear   ...As with leaks from the secret Tran-Pacific Partnership negotiations, this leak shows that the largest corporations are working to bypass recent efforts by governments to rein them in by pushing through “trade” agreements that override their ability to write their own laws and regulations...
Trade Treaties and the Coming Rule of the Global Corporatocracy  naked capitalism   ...The intentions of those negotiating the multiple trade treaties are now crystal clear: to place complete power and control over our economies in the hands of the largest global corporations, many of which bear the lion’s share of responsibility for the economic and environmental mess we’re already in...
State Battles
John Doe special prosecutor says he voted for Scott Walker in recall  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...This disclosure is intended to counter claims by conservative groups that they are being targeted by prosecutors because they backed the first-term Republican governor...
Same song, second verse for Right to Work issue  Springfield News-Leader   ...Lawmakers will move early on so-called Right to Work next year, Rep. Kevin Austin said this past week. Sound familiar? It's the same message lawmakers shared with the public last year...
A $15 minimum wage in Indy? Unlikely  Indianapolis Star   ...t's a trend cities in Indiana won't be joining anytime soon. State law doesn't allow it...
War on Workers
LIUNA: Fix Our Bridges, Roads; Fund the Highway Bill  AFL-CIO Now   ...With the Highway Trust Fund running out of money, thanks to congressional inaction, crucial highway and bridge repair projects could be shut down starting this summer...
Social Security's continuing assault on its own customer service  Los Angeles Times   ...The downside of drastic cutbacks in the agency's staffing levels, number of field offices and general commitment to service is detailed in a report issued by the Senate Committee on Aging in conjunction with a hearing on the subject Wednesday...
Amazon Living Wage campaigners place dummy book on site as protest  Guardian   ...Campaigners who have been calling on Amazon to "end poverty pay" for months have brought their battle directly to the internet retailer's front doorstep with the launch of a "book" on Amazon's own website slamming the way it treats its workers...
German economics minister “austerity policies have failed”  billy blog   ...what is apparent in modern day Europe is the increasing breakdown of social stability and an emerging law of the jungle driven by unemployment, poverty and the inevitable social exclusion...
Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street  Wall Street on Parade   ...Citigroup may be operating one of Wall Street’s largest collections of dark pools, trading stocks 24/7 around the globe in de facto unregulated stock exchanges which it operates under a dizzying array of different names...