Monday, May 19, 2014

Today's Teamster News 05.19.14

Teamster News
Uber drivers meet with Teamsters to form new association  KING5.com   ...Uber and Uber-X drivers on Sunday moved forward with plans to form their own association. Dozens of drivers met at the Teamster's Local 117 headquarters in Tukwila. The Teamsters are helping the group form their own association to deal with labor issues and safety concerns...
Trade
Russia halts rocket exports to US, hitting space and military programmes  The Guardian   ...Russia's deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, has announced it will halt the export of rocket engines crucial to the US military defence and space programmes...
US, Japan 'not too far apart' on trade: analyst  ABC Australia   ...Pacific region trade ministers have gathered in Singapore, to try to hammer out agreement on a multilateral trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
State Battles
Digging into Scott Walker’s talk of 17,000 job-producing new businesses  Politifact   ...his impressive-sounding talking point -- that 17,000 new ready-to-hire businesses have sprung up on his watch -- crumbles upon examination….An analysis by PolitiFact Wisconsin found Walker’s count includes: Hundreds of nonprofit organizations, often volunteer-run, including Scout troops, condo associations, youth sports leagues, volunteer fire departments, historical societies, "friends" fundraising groups, scholarship funds and many more...
Portland Is First U.S. City to Divest Funds from Walmart  Alternet   ...On Thursday, May 15, the city of Portland, Oregon got rid of $9 million, or 25 percent of its investments in Walmart. This marks the beginning of a divestment program that will purge Portland's investment portfolio of $36 million in Walmart bonds by 2016...
War on Workers
Unionization Is Next Step For Fast Food Workers  The Real News   ...Organizing a union is the ultimate goal, and workers like Tanaisha say they won't stop until they have it their way...
Data mining your children  Politico   ...The NSA has nothing on the ed tech startup known as Knewton. The data analytics firm has peered into the brains of more than 4 million students across the country...
The NSA’s Mantra  Counterpunch   ...“collect it all, sniff it all, process it all, partner it all, exploit it all...”
Congratulations, class of 2014: You’re totally screwed  Salon   ...the average student-loan borrower among you is now $33,000 in debt, the largest of any graduating class ever...
Swiss Voters Just Rejected A $25 An Hour Minimum Wage  Reuters  ...Swiss voters on Sunday rejected proposals to introduce the world's highest minimum wage and spend $3.5 billion buying new Gripen fighter jets from Saab...
Anti-World Cup protests across Brazil  The Guardian   ...The events follow industrial action in Rio earlier in the week by teachers, bus drivers, museum employees and geologists, and underline longer term concerns about public safety and transport infrastructure...
Turkey mine disaster: 18 people held on suspicion of negligence  The Guardian   ...Turkish police have detained 18 people suspected of negligence in connection with this week's deadly mine disaster, including executives from the mine operator, local media reported. Rescue operations ended on Saturday after the bodies of the last two trapped miners were recovered, following the country's worst industrial disaster, which killed 301 people...
Miscellaneous