Monday, May 12, 2014

Today's Teamster News 05.12.14

Teamster News
Like father like son: Jimmy Hoffa Jr's union takes on UK bus giant National Express  The Independent   ...The president of America's Teamsters union, Jimmy Hoffa junior, last night urged National Express to open talks over labour practices at its Durham School Services business that runs some of the yellow US-style school buses...
Teamsters end strike at PepsiCo plant  Indianapolis Star   ...The agreement gives raises of $1.95 an hour over five years, boosting the average hourly wage to $21.50, said Jeff Combs, a representative for Teamsters Local 135. The contract covers drivers, mechanics and warehouse workers...
Trade
TPP negotiators begin talks in Vietnam in bid to conclude a deal  Global Post   ...Countries involved in negotiations for an ambitious Pacific free trade agreement began talks in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, aiming to strike a deal in time for a ministerial meeting set to be held in Singapore on May 19-20...
State Battles
Mich. unions cite safety as lawmakers consider more privatization  Corrections One   ...Unions are asking lawmakers to consider safety as more privatization is being considered…contracts acknowledged early problems with food privatization and nursing aides at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans…
War on Workers
Massive International Worker Strike Has the Food Industry Terrified  Jezebel   ...Fast food workers are planning the largest international worker strike to date, and a bevy of news stories from this week show just how scared the food industry actually is of the rising tide of worker organization...
‘Robin Hood’ wins: EU to levy Financial Transactions Tax from 2016  RT   ...Eleven EU member states will be imposing a ‘Robin Hood’ tax on financial transactions, after it was proposed in 2011 to counter financial crises...
Report: The Big Money in Tax Breaks Continues  truthout   ...over a trillion dollars a year in lost revenue – more than 1.6 times the 2013 budget deficit – goes largely unnoticed...
UberX Drivers Protest Outside Uber Headquarters  Time   ...Nearly 100 disgruntled UberX drivers gathered outside Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco on Thursday to demand better pay and treatment from one of the sharing economy’s most visible companies...
How Finance Gutted Manufacturing  Boston Review   ...Since the 1980s, financial market pressures have driven companies to hive off activities that sustained manufacturing...
US failed to inspect thousands of at-risk oil and gas wells, report finds  The Guardian   ...The government has failed to inspect thousands of oil and gas wells it considers potentially high risks for water contamination and other environmental damage, congressional investigators say...
Making Ends Meet at Walmart  New York Times   ...While the company’s malaise is clearly laid out in financial tables — numbers don’t lie, after all — when it comes to figuring the performance pay of top executives, let’s just say the numbers can be made to fib...