Friday, May 9, 2014

Today's Teamster News 05.09.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Question Executive Compensation At Republic Services Shareholder Meeting  teamster.org   ..."Republic's sanitation workers risk their lives every day to protect the public health, in the sixth-most dangerous job in America," said Robert Morales, Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director. "It is offensive that the Republic's CEO's estate will get $14 million if he dies, and in the meantime the company is risking the health of communities and workers..."
Mazel Tov! UPS deliveryman matches a Jewish couple along his route in Crown Heights  New York Daily News   ...Terry Spiers, a UPS deliveryman, played matchmaker on his Crown Heights route earlier this year — and two of the lovebirds he introduced got engaged this month...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership A Bad Deal For America  Town Hall   ...The good news is that the Obama administration plans to create a lot of new jobs. The bad news is that those jobs will mostly be in Asia. President Obama's recent trip to Asia revived debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement...
State Battles
ALEC vs. American democracy (opinion)  Detroit News   ...without a strong labor movement, both union and nonunion workers have no real avenue to compel employers to provide decent wages, affordable health care and retirement security...And that’s the way the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants it...
Ohio unions applaud Missouri elected officials for taking stand against Right to Work  PR News Channel   ...With Missouri union supporters attempting to steer clear of becoming a Right to Work state, labor supporters across the country are giving kudos to the Arnold (Missouri) City Council for passing a resolution that opposes Right to Work...
Wage Theft: State, Activists Help Keep Laborers From Being Ripped Off By Employers  Aurora Sentinel   ...The issue has now snared the attention of state lawmakers who this week passed a bill that would make it easier for state investigators to follow-up on wage theft cases and easier for workers who feel cheated to file a claim. The legislation, Senate Bill 5, passed the state Senate last month and the state House on May 5. It is now waiting on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature...
Rhode Island Senate Considering “Maximum Wage” Legislation  naked capitalism   ...Section 37-2-81 empowers and directs the head of the department of administration to establish rules and regulations that give priority in contract and/or subcontract awards to business enterprises whose best-paid executive receives compensation and/or salary equal to thirty-two times or less than the compensation and/or salary paid to its lowest-paid full-time employee...
War On Workers
150 Workers Die Each Day Just From Doing Their Jobs  Think Progress   ...In 2012, 4,628 workers were killed on the job, which makes an average of 13 deaths per day, according to the AFL-CIO. An estimated additional 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases...
49 Million Americans Go Hungry Despite So-Called Recovery  Huffington Post   ...Dan Ryan and his wife make a combined $2,700 a month, an amount that is too high for them to qualify for food stamps but too low to feed them and their three children...
Japanese Restaurant Eliminates Tipping And Just Pays A Higher Wage  Think Progress   ...Riki Restaurant, a Japanese restaurant in New York, recently decided to eliminate tipping and instead raised its menu prices to pay staff higher wages...
Where The Average Student Loan Burden Is Largest  Washington Post   ...More than a million Americans this year will graduate with substantial student loan debt, the National Conference of State Legislatures recently reported...
Wide Majorities Losing Faith In John Roberts' Supreme Court, Want Term Limits  Huffington Post  ...The landmark Citizens United ruling was opposed by a whopping 80-18 margin. The more recent McCutcheon decision, which lifted caps on total giving, was said by a 51 percent majority to be likely to create more corruption, while 8 percent suggested it would lead to less...
Miscellaneous
Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway  Guardian   ...The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US, according to a report in the state-run Beijing Times newspaper...