Friday, June 20, 2014

Today's Teamster News 06.20.14

Teamster News
Federal board accuses port trucking firm of labor law violations  Los Angeles Times   ...The federal government has accused a trucking company in Carson of more than 50 labor law violations, including firing drivers for union activity, retaliating against pro-labor employees and planting an anti-union operative amid its workforce...
Teamsters, Carpenters Protest Over Lost Work But Convention Center Is Not Budging  NewsWorks   ...About 100 union carpenters and Teamsters rallied outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center Wednesday in the first official protest since a labor dispute last month with center management...
Vermont Maintenance Workers Settle On New Contract  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Transportation maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County have signed a new three-year-contract that takes effect July 1. Union officials for Teamsters Local 597 say the new contract — signed Thursday — includes wage increases averaging two percent a year and access to promotions through professional certification programs...
Toronto Shooting: The Teamsters Want to Meet with Minister Blainey  Teamsters Canada   ...A member of Teamsters Local Union 419 is in critical condition following a shooting that occurred last night in Toronto. The victim who works for Garda World Cash Services was in an ambush situation with 3 individuals…."This is not the first time a shooting occurs in the Toronto area or elsewhere in the country for that matter in the past few months," points out Jim Chalmers, director of the Teamsters Canada Armoured Car Division...
Trade
Capitol Hill looks hard at dog treats and processed Chicken from China  manufacture this   ...1,000 dogs have died, 10 percent of America’s pig population is gone, 5,600 more pets are sick, and three people are ill. And poor safety measures in China may be the cause...
Retirees Gather, Organize For Social Justice  People's World   ...Retired activists discussed how to stop efforts to cut Medicare and Social Security, raise the minimum wage, and fight back against destructive trade deals like the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership...
State Battles
John Doe prosecutors allege Scott Walker at center of 'criminal scheme'  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Prosecutors allege Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising ... to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators facing recall elections during 2011 and 2012, according to documents unsealed Thursday...
Exclusive: Prosecutor Is Closing in on Gov. Christie  Esquire   ...(U.S. Attorney Paul) Fishman’s challenge is to nail down specific criminal charges on several fronts -- the diversion of Port Authority money to fund New Jersey road and bridge projects; the four-day rush-hour closures of George Washington Bridge lanes in Ft. Lee; and a web of real-estate deals spun by David Samson, long a Christie crony, when he chaired the PA’s Board of Commissioners as Christie’s appointee...
Meet The Hotel Workers Going On Hunger Strike For A $15 Minimum Wage  Think Progress   ...In Providence, Rhode Island, three hotel workers and a city councilwoman started a week-long hunger strike on Monday, protesting a state bill that would block their efforts to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour...
War On Workers
Being Out of Work Longer Makes Finding Work Much Harder  Wall Street Journal   ...Recent research suggests this discouraging silence may have more to do with the time spent out of the work force than with the job seeker’s skills, education or age...
IRS Chief Promises Stricter Rules For 'Dark Money' Non-Profit Groups  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The Internal Revenue Service will propose new and specific rules defining how much money “social welfare” nonprofits may spend on political campaigns...
GE Capital Pays Up For Denying Spanish Speakers Access To Credit Card Repayment Program  Huffington Post   ...Synchrony Bank, formerly known as GE Capital, has reached an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department over allegations that it denied access to credit card debt-repayment programs to qualified customers just because they preferred to communicate in Spanish or had a mailing address in Puerto Rico...
Miscellaneous
What Green Revolution? Coal Use Highest In 44 Years  Oil Price   ...In 2013, enough coal was burned to meet 30.1 percent of the world’s energy demands -- its highest share since 1970, according to new data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy...