Monday, March 23, 2015

Today's Teamster News 03.23.15

Teamsters 
Canadian National Railway has recently experienced a troubling spike in train derailments  Reuters   ...Doug Finnson, president of a Teamsters union representing CN Rail's train crews, said he was particularly concerned with the recent Ontario derailments. "We're on the record saying the trains are too long, the cars are too heavy, and the trains go too fast."...
'Jane the Virgin' Star Gina Rodriguez Gets Real About Hollywood Success  Latino Post   ...The actress also added that her father Gino, a well-known representative for the Teamsters, was "always very honest" and that he prepared their family "for the crude game that is society."...
Trade
Letter: Nolan working to block freetrade agreement fast-track  Park Rapids Enterprise   ...How can the United States sign an international trade agreement when Congress, our constitutionally delegated body to regulate commerce with foreign nations, isn’t allowed a seat at the negotiating table?...
State Battles
AG Madigan says no to Rauner right-to-work zones  Chicago Tribune   ...Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Friday that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s plan to put in place small right-to-work areas across Illinois is illegal, marking the second time the state’s chief legal officer has pushed back against governor’s attempts to limit employee unions...
War on Workers
Retirement Crisis: The Great 401(k) Experiment Has Failed for Many Americans  NBC News   ...millions of workers nearing retirement are on track to leave the workforce with savings that do not even approach what they will need for health care, let alone daily living. Not surprisingly, retirement is now Americans' top financial worry, according to a recent Gallup poll...
How The Media Enable The Anti-Worker Movement  National Memo   ...News organizations help this anti-worker movement, even if they do not mean to, when they get facts wrong, lack balance, provide vagaries instead of telling details, and fail to apply time-tested reporting practices to separate fact from advocacy...
Union: Collective bargaining rights at issue in BP strike  Chicago Tribune   ...United Steelworkers members working at BP Whiting Refinery and public school teachers have a common bond, according to the local USW president — they both found themselves in a fight to maintain their collective bargaining rights...
Survival of the fittest might have actually been survival of the richest​  Washington Post   ...Researchers recently uncovered a sharp decline in genetic diversity in male lineages across the world during the Stone Age. The study’s authors hypothesized that material gains made through early agricultural success — a proxy for wealth — gave smaller groups of related men the reproductive upper hand for generations...
Funeral Set for Tolland Worker Killed Patching Potholes  NBC Connecticut   ...David Lee Ridzon, 50, of Willington, died Thursday after he was struck by a public works truck while patching potholes on Anderson Road...
Miscellaneous
The Planet’s Best Stealth Fighter Isn’t Made in America  The Daily Beast   ...The U.S. military likes to think it makes the world’s most sophisticated combat aircraft. Think again...