Monday, June 2, 2014

Today's Teamster News 06.02.14

Trade
US food safety association flags up potential negatives of TTIP Global Meat News ...Food safety in the meat industry could be negatively affected by the result of the current Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks between the US and the European Union, according to the Center for Food Safety (CFS) in the US...
EU-US clash over financial services in TTIP  EurActiv   ... The US Ambassador to the EU told the European Commissioner for Trade today (15 May) that there is hardly any chance that financial services will be included in a future Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)...
State Battles
How Local Governments Are Using Their Purchasing Power to End Sweatshop Labor  The Nation   ...Last month, to commemorate the anniversary of the deadly Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, the city of Madison, Wisconsin, launched a contracting policy that commits the city’s vendors to promote fair labor standards...
A New Teacher Union Movement is Rising  Portside   ...A revitalized teacher union movement is bubbling up in the midst of relentless attacks on public schools and the teaching profession...
The War on Workers
QE, Bailouts, And Families Struggling To Buy Food  Testosterone Pit   ...In 2013, as the S&P 500 index, including dividends, shot up 32.4% – after an already blistering 16% in 2012 – and as the Fed’s trillions inflated just about every asset class, from modernist paintings to farmland, well just then, 23% of the families with kids and 19% of the families without kids in America reported difficulties buying food...
Walmart Associates From All Over The World Arrive In Northwest Arkansas Sunday  5News   ...The Walmart shareholders and associates stay at the University of Arkansas in the dorms. All of the events and meals take place on campus, with the biggest event being the 7 a.m. Friday shareholders meeting at Bud Walton Arena...
A New Rallying Cry for Retail Workers: $25,000 a Year  Bloomberg   ...Walmart Moms head to the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) for the retailer’s annual shareholder meeting on June 6. The union-supported group is asking for $25,000 a year for full-time work...
N.S.A. Collecting Millions of Faces From Web Images  New York Times   ...The National Security Agency is harvesting huge numbers of images of people from communications that it intercepts through its global surveillance operations for use in sophisticated facial recognition programs, according to top-secret documents...
Miscellaneous
U.S. to unveil sweeping rules to cut power plant pollution  Reuters   ...The U.S. power sector will need to emit 30 percent less carbon dioxide by 2030 than it did in 2005, according to new federal regulations - the centerpiece of the Obama administration's climate change strategy - to be unveiled on Monday...
Study Examines Efficacy of Taxes on Sugary Drinks  New York Times   ...A new study of how taxes might be used to curb consumption of sugary drinks suggests that applying a tax based on the amount of calories contained in a serving rather than its size would be more effective...