Saturday, April 5, 2014

Today's Teamster News 04.05.14

Teamster News
Judge Approves $1.25 Million Wage Settlement For Baltimore City School Bus Workers  teamster.org   ... The settlement covers damages for 372 class members over unpaid wages dating back to 2010...
Teamsters Hail ‘Groundbreaking’ LA-Area Waste Reduction Plan  teamster.org   ...Teamster leaders are hailing a vote by the Los Angeles City Council this week to overhaul the city’s waste-collection system so that more materials are diverted from landfills, and will give responsible employers a better chance to do the work...
Teamsters Airline Division Statement On Republic Pilots' Vote  teamster.org   ...pilots of Republic Airlines, represented by Teamsters Local Union 357 in Plainfield, Ind. and the Teamsters Airline Division, voted down a tentative agreement by the count of 289-1,643...
Teamsters Union Members Receive Raise As Ypsilanti Township Reigns In Legacy Costs  Ann Arbor News   ...Ypsilanti Township approved a 3 percent pay increase for five of its ten Teamsters Union members, but in exchange received significant savings in legacy costs...
Trade
US allows Boeing airplane component sales to Iran  BBC News   ...The US Treasury has granted plane manufacturer Boeing a licence to export certain spare commercial parts to Iran, a company spokesman says...
Teamsters: House USTR Hearing Raises Warnings of ‘Back To The Future’ With Trade  teamster.org   ...Unfortunately for working Americans, there is reason to doubt U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman’s outlook on how the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements will affect their ability to support their families in the future...
State Battles
California Truckers Will Get $2.2 Million In Back Pay For Being Misclassified  ThinkProgress   ...A California logistics company must pay more than $2.2 million in back pay to seven short-haul truck drivers it had illegally misclassified as independent contractors, a state labor board ruled on Wednesday, continuing a streak of victories for drivers who are asserting their labor rights in the state...
MO House Narrowly Approves Bill Dubbed 'Paycheck Deception' By Opponents  Crooks and Liars   ...The bill, approved 83-69, now goes to the Senate. If they approve it, through a clause, it'll bypass the governor and go up for a referendum on the August ballot...
GOP governor uses taxpayer money to bust unions  MSNBC   ...There are bombshell revelations about GOP Gov. Bill Haslam’s influence in stopping the UAW from unionizing the Tennessee VW plant...
War on Workers
Hoffa Pushes Back On Labor Attacks At Public Colleges  teamster.org   ...Watch General President Jim Hoffa on “Real Money” as he takes on Republicans who want to block public universities from offering courses on labor issues...
Walmart Admits: 'Our Profits' Depend on 'Their Poverty'  Common Dreams   ...Although a notorious recipient of "corporate welfare," Walmart has now admitted that their massive profits also depend on the funding of food stamps and other public assistance programs...
Ruling Spurs Rush for Cash in Both Parties  New York Times   ...The ruling allows donors to make the maximum contribution to an unlimited number of campaigns, freeing donors from caps that required them to pick and prioritize from among each party’s candidates and national committees...
U.S. Creates 192,000 Jobs In March, Unemployment Rate Holds At 6.7%  Associated Press ...The U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in March, as the unemployment rate remained at 6.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday...
3 reasons to worry about March's jobs report  CNN   ...Average hourly wages fell in March...
Chicago McDonald's Workers Protest Against Wage Theft  Progress Illinois   ...As fans filed into the McDonald's All-American Games Wednesday evening, paying as much as $135 for a ticket to watch basketball played by future millionaires, fast food workers stood across the street in hopes of simply being paid what they are owed...
Loss Of Unemployment Benefits Has Now Cost Almost $5 Billion As Congress Dithers
  ThinkProgress   ...The Senate moved one small step closer to passing a restoration of long-term jobless benefits that lapsed in December, costing states billions...
Sure, Bigwigs Want Labor Rights—But Only for Themselves
  In These Times   ...What do Apple, the NCAA and Tennessee Republicans all have in common?...
More Than 20 Striking Students Arrested, Belying University of California’s Era of ‘Labor Peace’  In These Times   ...A system-wide strike by graduate assistants at the University of California started with what their union calls an ugly irony. The work stoppage, staged in protest of past alleged attempts by UC to intimidate graduate workers for labor organizing, was quickly met with the arrest of 20 students at UC Santa Cruz who were picketing early Wednesday morning...
Hopkins Hospital Workers Speak Out against "Poverty Wages"  The Real News   ...The Real News talks to workers at Baltimore's internationally renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital as they prepare for a possible strike in order to obtain a $15 hourly wage...
Miscellaneous
Northwestern Football Union Leaders Take Their Case To Capitol Hill  Washington Post   ...As Northwestern's football players attempt to unionize, their leaders came to Capitol Hill this week to lobby for the effort and to protect their interests in advance of potential legislative battles...
How the Latest Supreme Court Ruling Will Mint Millions for Mass Media
  AlterNet   ...The same companies which operate on our publicly owned airwaves stand to gain the most from McCutcheon and its earlier obscene counterpart, Citizens United...