Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Today's Teamster News 06.25.14

Teamster News
D.C. Taxi Drivers To Stage Caravan For Fairness On Wednesday, June 25  teamster.org   ... Hundreds of D.C. cab drivers affiliated with the Teamsters Union will take part in a “Fairness NOW!” caravan throughout the city on Wednesday, June 25 to demand an immediate stop to illegal private sedan services until a fair resolution is reached...
Delegates to BMWED/Teamsters Take Historic Action At Convention  teamster.org   ...Delegates of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division convention have elected the first female member of the union's Executive Board, Stacey Moody Gilbert...
Trade
#SOSJobs: The Story of The Rally On The Iron Range  manufacture this   ...Less than a month remains until the US Department of Commerce makes its final decision on a trade case that will affect thousands of steelworkers across the United States...
State Battles
Mayoral veto overturned  Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette   ...City Council members voted along party lines Tuesday to override Mayor Tom Henry’s veto of the new prohibition on collective bargaining for city employees who are not police or firefighters...
Mayors Want Federal Minimum Wage Hike  Dallas News   ...Mike Rawlings oversaw many minimum-wage workers as top executive at Pizza Hut. Now, as the mayor of Dallas, he’s trying to determine what a living wage is for city residents and city contract workers...
Changes To Wage Theft Prevention Law Approved By New York State Legislature  Daily Labor Report   ...The new measure would go even further by increasing penalties for violations to $50 to $200 per day from $50 to $200 per week and raising maximum penalties to $5,000 from $2,000. The bill also would establish penalties of $1,000 to $20,000 for repeat violators. Maximum liquidated damages would be increased under the bill to $20,000 from $10,000...
2nd Bridge Inquiry Said To Be Linked To Christie  New York Times   ...The inquiries into securities law violations focus on a period of 2010 and 2011 when Gov. Chris Christie’s administration pressed the Port Authority to pay for extensive repairs to the Skyway and related road projects, diverting money that was to be used on a new Hudson River rail tunnel that Mr. Christie canceled in October 2010...
Water is a Human Right: Detroit Residents Seek U.N. Intervention as City Shuts Off Taps to Thousands  Democracy Now   ... Since March, up to 3,000 account holders have had their water cut off every week. The Detroit water authority carries an estimated $5 billion in debt and has been the subject of privatization talks...
War On Workers
After Gap Raised Its Minimum Wage, Job Applications Surged  Think Progress   ...As of June, the lowest-paid Gap employees are making $9 an hour, and that will increase to $10 in June of next year. The raise will affect 65,000 employees in the United States. One of the reasons originally cited was to be able to “attract and retain great talent,” and Chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy had said, “Our decision to invest in frontline employees will directly support our business, and is one that we expect to deliver a return many times over.”...
Contract Workers Strike: Government Is The Top Low-Wage Employer Of Women  Moyers & Company   ...Hundreds of women struggling to make ends meet on the low wages paid by federal contractors went on strike in Washington, DC, today....They’re demanding that President Obama sign an executive order allowing them to bargain collectively for better pay, decent health care and paid sick leave...
Fact-Checking Walmart's Fact-Check Of The New York Times  Huffington Post   ...Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Apple and Wells Fargo paid more in taxes than Walmart...
Miscellaneous
Federal Judge Rules US Citizens Placed on No-Fly List Had Their Due Process Rights Violated  firedoglake   ...A federal district court in Oregon has ruled that United States citizens who were placed on the No-Fly List had their rights to “procedural due process” violated. The current process is unconstitutional and the government must “provide a new process” that satisfies the “constitutional requirements for due process.”...
Veterangate: VA whistleblower says records of deceased vets were altered  RT   ...A Veteran Affairs employee has come forward claiming that government officials doctored the medial records of deceased veterans in order to hide the fact that they died waiting for medical care...
Want To Suppress The Vote? Stress People Out  Mother Jones   ...individuals who have higher baseline levels of the bodily stress hormone cortisol are, as a group, less likely to vote. In other words, individuals who are more sensitive to stress don't appear to vote as often...