Friday, January 10, 2014

Today's Teamster News 01.10.14

YRCW Teamsters Reject Extending, Modifying Current Restructuring Agreement  teamster.org   ...Teamsters at YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) rejected the company’s proposal that would have extended and modified the existing memorandum of understanding. Members voted over the past several weeks and ballots were counted today. The proposed extension and modification was voted down 61 percent to 39 percent...
Massive trade deal filed in Congress; you can help stop it  TeamsterNation   ...Legislation was filed today to make it easier to pass job-killing trade deals like NAFTA...
Hoffa: Fast-Track Bill Will Take Congress, Public Out of Process  teamster.org   ...the lack of transparency  in considering TPP and other trade deals will hurt not only workers but families as well...
Workers Need Government Attention Now  teamster.org   ...Middle-class jobs have dwindled due to trade deals like NAFTA...
Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus open secrets   ...For the first time in history, most members of Congress are millionaires, according to a new analysis of personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics...
15 Chris Christie Controversies You Missed  Politico   ...Using inflated cost estimates to justifying canceling the ARC tunnel...The Access to the Region’s Core tunnel was a commuter rail project that would have more than doubled the number of trains from New Jersey to Manhattan, easing congestion on the state’s notorious (especially now) highways. After initially endorsing the project, which could have created an estimated 45,000 permanent jobs and 6,000 temporary construction jobs, Christie changed his mind...
Eight Million Jobs Are Still Missing in America  Huffington Post   ...That's how many more people would have jobs today if the economy were truly healthy, according to a new study released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute...
Bank of America employs 20 full-time social media spies, watches anarchists and occupy protesters  PrivacySOS   ...the powerful financial institution employs a staff of 20 full-time social media spies, and references public-private surveillance efforts directed at activists who aim to hold banks accountable for social crises like the foreclosure disaster....
Employees at Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Can Now Tweet About Work Without Fear  In These Times   ...Thanks to a new decree by the National Labor Relations Board, however, employees can now feel free to post about their jobs to Facebook or Instagram without fear of retribution...
Food stamp cuts expected to near $9 billion  Washington Post   ...Negotiations are almost complete on a long-overdue farm bill that will set new spending levels for the federal food stamp program and add yet another wrinkle to the national debate over income inequality as Congress mulls how to help unemployed and low-wage workers...
One in three Americans slipped below the poverty line between 2009 and 2011  Washington Post   ...How many people in the United States are poor? It’s a surprisingly tricky question...
Why Poverty Is A Much Bigger Problem Than The Government Thinks  ThinkProgress   ...A massive new study from the Half in Ten Campaign and the Center for American Progress of American attitudes about work, the war on poverty, and new proposals to fight poverty in the future underscores just how bad the problem is...
No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data
  ProPublica   ...The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day...
The Fed Shifts Ground on Big Banks  New York Times   ...there are signs that top officials are prepared to take a tougher stand on reining in large, complex financial institutions...
Pot Shares Rally 21% to 1,700% as Speculators See Green  Bloomberg News   ...They’ve got high hopes. The chief executive officer of Hemp Inc. (HEMP), who has seen his stock soar 205 percent to 8 cents in the last three days, says investors are suddenly bidding up marijuana companies because they want to find “the next Microsoft.”...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren demands transparency when feds settle claims against big banks  Raw Story   ...A new bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) would shine a light on corporate wrongdoing by allowing the public greater access to terms of settlements they reach with the government...
Robert King out as UW System president finalist  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Some on campus and in Madison raised questions about King’s background as a conservative politician in New York and officeholder on the American Legislative Exchange Council...
North Carolina: Battleground State  Truthout   ...First it was Wisconsin. Now it’s North Carolina that is redefining the term “battleground state.” On one side: a right-wing government enacting laws that are changing the face of the state. On the other: citizen protesters who are fighting back against what they fear is a radical takeover...
Maryland Unions Hit Jobs Jackpot with New Casinos  In These Times   ...Labor unions in the Washington, D.C. area got an early Christmas present December 20, when Maryland state officials announced their approval of a plan to build a massive MGM Resorts International casino complex just a few miles from the nation’s Capitol building...
Washington State Boeing Workers Accept Pension Concessions  The Real News Network   ...By a narrow margin, members of the Seattle area machinists union voted to accept the new contract after Boeing threatened to take the production of its new 777X aircraft out of the state...
Union pushes for certification vote at Canada Toyota plants  Reuters   ...Canada's largest private-sector union said on Wednesday it plans to hold an organization vote for about 7,000 workers at two Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc assembly plants in Ontario early this year...
Unions file lawsuits claiming Alberta labour legislation violates Charter of Rights and Freedoms  Edmondton Journal   ...The Alberta government used Bill 46 as a “trump card” that coloured its negotiations with the province’s largest public-sector union, a provincial labour board hearing was told Wednesday...