Saturday, October 5, 2013

Today's Teamster News 10.05.13

Wegmans, Teamsters to talk  Democrat & Chronicle   ...Following Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy’s plea for resolution, Wegmans Food Markets and Teamsters Local 118 representatives have agreed to return to negotiations October 11...
Sikorsky union rep prepares workers for furloughs  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Rocco Calo is angry, but even as head of Teamsters Local 1150 that represents employees at Sikorsky Aircraft, he cannot do anything to prevent the furlough of 2,000 workers from the expansive plant that manufactures helicopters for the U.S. military...
Labour dispute drags on at Richmond Ikea  Canadian Labour Reporter   ...There is no end in sight for the labour dispute between the Richmond, B.C., Ikea and its union, Teamsters Local 213. The two parties even disagree on what to call the dispute — the union refers to the past 70 days as a lockout while the company is calling it a strike...
The Loss of U.S. Pre-eminence (opinion)  New York Times   ...The United States won its global predominance in a short period … Now the groundwork has been laid for its decline with political polarization, a longstanding tax revolt and a well-orchestrated campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the federal government...
Government Close Down - Another Grand Betrayal in the Works?   The Real News   ...is the outcome here not that (Obama)  gives up on health care, but he gives another important concession somewhere else, and then everybody calls it a victory--Obama saved health care, but the Republicans actually get some other big cut ... in the social safety net…?
Washington’s Z-Burger Shuts Down Shutdown Special  Wall Street Journal   ...The chain Z-Burger, which has been offering free burgers to furloughed workers, said it has ended the  promotion, citing overwhelming demand in the first three days of the government shutdown. Peter Tabibian, Z-Burger’s owner, said the chain gave out 15,840 hamburgers during the promotion, the equivalent of more than $88,000 at retail prices...
"A Corporate Trojan Horse": Obama Pushes Secretive TPP Trade Pact, Would Rewrite Swath of U.S. Laws  Democracy Now   ...While the text of the treaty has been largely negotiated behind closed doors and, until June, kept secret from Congress, more than 600 corporate advisers reportedly have access to the measure, including employees of Halliburton and Monsanto...
Obama Cancels Trip to Asia Trade Summit as Elected, Labor and Business Leaders Detail TPP Trade Pact Problems  Public Citizen   ...President Obama has now announced that due to the government shutdown, he will not be attending the summit next week in Indonesia that his administration had (mis)identified as a deadline for concluding the long-lingering negotiations for the sprawling Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "trade" pact...
Why are Nurses at Vanderbilt Medical Center Cleaning Bathrooms? Health care's Fight Between Labor and Capital  Portside   ...Hospital budget cuts became viscerally visible earlier this month when Vanderbilt Medical Center announced that nurses must now perform housekeeping duties - cleaning patients' rooms and bathrooms...
Adobe Hacked: Cyber-Thieves Accessed Credit Card Information Of Nearly 3 Million Customers   Associated Press   ...Adobe Systems Inc. said a cyber attack on its systems has exposed credit-card information of 2.9 million customers. The maker of Photoshop and other software said Thursday that the attacker accessed Adobe customer IDs and passwords on its systems...
CFPB Pledges To Enforce Consumer Protection Laws Over Mandatory Payroll Cards  MintPress News   ...Mandatory payroll cards force employees to consent to a bank fee structure as a condition of employment, ranging from $1.75 to $7. In other words, making the workers pay to be paid. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to put a stop to that type of abuse…
Michigan turns down idea of prison privatization  WIN 98.5 News   ...It’s hard to say yet what it could mean for the future of prisons in the state, but the Michigan Department of Management and Budget on Thursday declined to put prisoners in a privately run correctional facility after bids came in at nearly $6 million over the state's current cost...
Illinois Says Banks to Improve Loan-Modification Process  Bloomberg News   ...Bank of America Corp. and the four other biggest U.S. mortgage servicers will put in place new procedures to improve the process for borrowers to seek loan modifications, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said...
As Missouri Lt. Gov. digs in on Right to Work policy, unions mobilize to fight  PR News   ...With state lawmakers in Missouri back in session, the Show-Me state is once again front and center in the controversial Right to Work battle...
MBTA, union sue over arbitrator's pay award  Associated Press   ...Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority management and the union representing some workers have filed dueling lawsuits in a dispute over an arbitrator's award that would increase workers' salaries by an average of more than 10 percent...
Government Shutdown Reduces OSHA Inspection Force by More Than 90 Percent  Bloomberg News   ...The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration furloughed more than 90 percent of its inspectors as a result of the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, leaving the agency with only enough personnel to respond to the most serious workplace emergencies...