Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Today's Teamster News 08.07.13

Keolis Paratransit Workers Choose Teamsters Union  IBT   ...Paratransit drivers and mechanics with Keolis, a global transportation group in Long Beach, Calif., have voted overwhelmingly, 74-2, in favor of Teamster representation...
SCI Regressively Bargains With Striking Funeral Directors As Negotiations Continue  IBT   ...More than a month after Chicagoland funeral directors and drivers were forced to strike over unfair labor practices, Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) resumed negotiations with Teamsters Local 727 only to regressively bargain...
Teamster Nurses Voting on New Contract  WKBN News   ...Nurses at Northside Hospital, who are members of Teamsters Local 377 in Youngstown, Ohio, began voting on a new contract Tuesday...
Hernando commissioners, Teamsters set to meet on CBA  Bay News 9   ...A collective bargaining session will be held later this month between Hernando Commissioners (Florida) and Teamsters Local 79...
L.A. Story
  The American Prospect   ...The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: a new model for American liberalism?..
FBI Pressuring Internet Providers To Allow Government Surveillance Software  Fire Dog Lake   ...The FBI is pressuring Internet service providers to install software inside their networks to allow real-time government spying on users. The FBI claims real-time collection of information is suddenly necessary for the agency to do its job...
TEN THOUSAND turn out to protest GOP in Asheville, NC  DailyKos   ...There are plans for future protests in other cities (Charlotte is tentatively August 19) and it appears some smaller satellite protests are happening around the country...
Walmart retaliates against striking workers (opinion)  Digital Journal   ...In June, Walmart workers around the country walked off the job in a coordinated strike to protest working conditions at the nation's number one private employer. In a fit of revenge wreaking of a Hollywood sequel, Walmart has begun terminating employees...
SEIU backs $15 an hour minimum wage  MSNBC   ...“We support the workers demand for $15 an hour and want to hear from the most profitable multinational companies in the world, why not?” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry...
The Magical World Where McDonald's Pays $15 an Hour? It's Australia  The Atlantic   ...Even in countries with a high minimum wage, the golden arches manage to turn a profit. Here's how...
What it costs to replace a twenty-something  Washington Post   ...Oh, those pesky millennials. They’re been called entitled, lazy and over-confident. They seem to put social media right up there with food, water and shelter. They have–gasp–tattoos and piercings and sleep with their cell phones. Oh my! And now, it turns out, they’re also quite costly to replace on the job...
How cheap 'Made in China' products hurt the US economy in multiple ways  New York Times   ...Here is a symbol of China's assault on the US economy: the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. This landmark, which opened in 1964, is North America's longest suspension bridge. It's also in urgent need of renovation. Unfortunately, $34 million in steel production and fabrication work has been outsourced to China...
How predatory payday lenders pop back up even after states crack down  Pro Publica   ...In 2008, payday lenders suffered a major defeat when the Ohio legislature banned high-cost loans. That same year, they lost again when they dumped more than $20 million into an effort to roll back the law: But five years later, hundreds of payday loan stores still operate in Ohio, charging annual rates that can approach 700 percent...
US gov’t accuses Bank of America of civil fraud in sale of $850M of mortgage bonds in 2008  Associated Press   ...The U.S. government has accused Bank of America Corp. of civil fraud, saying the company failed to disclose risks and misled investors in its sale of $850 million of mortgage bonds during 2008...
Stat of the Day: US Has Enough Empty Houses to Hold All of Britain  treehugger   ...According to the latest data, the number of vacant U.S. homes touched 18.7-million in the second quarter...
Chevron to pay $2 million for refinery violations  Contra Costa Times   ...Chevron Corp. will pay $2 million in fines and restitution after pleading no contest Monday to six misdemeanor criminal charges stemming from a fire at its Richmond refinery last year...
Groups Charge ALEC with Tax Fraud over Secretive "Scholarship" Fund  PRWatch   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is running a secretive, multi-million dollar slush fund that finances lavish trips for state legislators and has misled the Internal Revenue Service about the fund’s activity, two government watchdog groups charged...
State employees get some protections in bill, but grievance procedures shortened  News & Observer   ...North Carolina’s Gov. Pat McCrory is expected to sign a bill that speeds up the employee grievance process for state workers but backs away from earlier efforts to sharply curtail their civil service protections...
Judge Strikes Down City Council's Prevailing Wage Bill  NY1   ...The mayor had vetoed the legislation that requires businesses which receive at least $1 million from the city to pay workers at a rate higher than the state's minimum wage...