Today's Teamster News 11.04.13

<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15809/osha_weaknesses_force_workers_to_choose_report_safety_violations_or_keep_th/" rel="nofollow">OSHA Weaknesses Force Workers to Choose: Report Safety Violations, or Keep Their Jobs?</a>  In These Times   ... the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspects only 1 percent of workplaces in the United States in a given year. In the absence of inspections, that means more of the burden to report safety abuses falls on individual workers themselves. However, the CEG study shows that due to weak protection laws, many workers find themselves choosing between reporting a safety violation and keeping their jobs—creating a vicious cycle that can lead to workers too fearful to report potentially deadly workplace hazards...<br /><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/19786-state-department-apologizes-for-calling-unionization-a-security-threat" rel="nofollow">State Department Apologizes for Calling Unionization a Security Threat </a> truthout   ...at a private meeting with labor groups earlier this month, the State Department opened the door to collective bargaining by workers who perform critical services for the American government overseas...<br /><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2483652/William-Gross-Californian-billionaire-apologizes-wealth-accumulated-workers-expense.html" rel="nofollow">Billionaire apologizes for wealth he accumulated 'at expense of workers' and says rich should pay more taxes</a>  Daily Mail   ...‘Congratulations. Smoke that cigar, enjoy that Chateau Lafite 1989. But (mostly you guys) acknowledge your good fortune at having been born in the '40s, '50s or '60s ... and having had the privilege of riding a credit wave and a credit boom for the past three decades,’ he writes...<br /><a href="http://www.greens.org/s-r/60/60-06.html" rel="nofollow">Inside the Psyche of the 1%</a>  Synthesis/Regeneration   ...Do the rich and super-rich tend to be psychopaths, devoid of guilt or shame? Are the 1% lacking in compassion? Does their endless accumulation of possessions actually bring them little to no happiness? To each of these, the answer is “yes”—but a very qualified “yes” with lots of subtleties...<br /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-rich-families-are-hoarding-cash-2013-11" rel="nofollow">CITI: Rich Families Are Hoarding Cash</a>  CNBC   ...A new survey of family offices by Citi finds that the wealthy are cash heavy—meaning they may fall short of the investment returns they're expecting...<br /><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/02/u-s-food-banks-struggle-to-meet-new-demand-caused-by-food-stamp-cuts/" rel="nofollow">U.S. food banks struggle to meet new demand caused by food stamp cuts</a>  Raw Story   ...37 million Americans were reliant on food banks to meet their nutritional needs in 2010, up from 25 million in 2006. The numbers have only grown through the recession brought on the deregulation of the financial markets and cuts to social programs...<br /><a href="http://angrybearblog.com/2013/11/another-congressman-and-stunning-subsidies-to-his-district.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Hzoh+%28angrybearblog.com%29" rel="nofollow">Another Congressman and stunning subsidies to his district</a>  Angry Bear   ...AB had a post on Congressman Steve King, an advocate of austerity and shut down yet received $9.17 billion in subsidies 1995-2012 for his district without offering cut backs for his district to share the sacrifices needed for austerity...<br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-brothers-harry-belafonte-ku-klux-klan-99282.html" rel="nofollow">Koch brothers slam Harry Belafonte’s Ku Klux Klan remark</a>  Politico   ...“Already we have lost 14 states in this union to the most corrupt group of citizens I’ve ever known,” Belafonte said at the First Corinthian Baptist Church, according to Capital New York. “They make up the heart and the thinking in the minds of those who would belong to the Ku Klux Klan. They are white supremacists...<br /><a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10952" rel="nofollow">Colombian Farmers and Union Activists Under Attack</a>  The Real News   ...In Colombia terror is systematically used as a weapon for social oppression, violence against farmers and unions continues; and while President Santos allowed protests, there are still scars of Uribe government’s alleged violence and ties to paramilitary organizations...<br /><a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/11/exclusive-govchristie-to-teacher-i-am.html" rel="nofollow">EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: @GovChristie to Teacher: "I Am Tired Of You People!"</a>  Jersey Jazzman   ...Is it not obvious that there has been an enormous amount of frustration and anger building up over Chris Christie's condescension toward teachers, parents, and students?...

austerity Chris Christie Colombia hunger inequality Kochs organizing OSHA workplace safety Today's Teamster News 11.04.13

OSHA Weaknesses Force Workers to Choose: Report Safety Violations, or Keep Their Jobs?  In These Times   ... the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspects only 1 percent of workplaces in the United States in a given year. In the a…

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US spending on infrastructure nosedives

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy0IZoEcII8uEgUl7_5vsHEMI6cZ-2iXzOSfSdxSNHHBaelgjTXz3V-QC-TtvPAWr3NGeFtlCb6EB9Ektnq8jQySFzOlIabEGfSYq_N0UpWOt3w7P5kcE2L4AsLJL6U9M9qZlWciNxghN/s1600/infrastructure+spending.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy0IZoEcII8uEgUl7_5vsHEMI6cZ-2iXzOSfSdxSNHHBaelgjTXz3V-QC-TtvPAWr3NGeFtlCb6EB9Ektnq8jQySFzOlIabEGfSYq_N0UpWOt3w7P5kcE2L4AsLJL6U9M9qZlWciNxghN/s320/infrastructure+spending.png" width="258" /></a></div><br />The chart tells it all.<br /><br />Next time you blow a tire in a pothole, you'll know why: Government spending has plummeted for American roads, bridges and transit systems. We're well on our way to becoming a third-world country.<br /><br />The naked capitalist writes that this isn't really news:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Anyone who travels at all can see how shoddy America has become. Our airports and train stations are a disgrace by international standards. Decades of underinvestment in the New York City subways has been somewhat reversed, but it will never be pleasant. ... Too many roads across the US are clearly overdue for resurfacing. I saw one road in Maine where the locals had slapped tar on either side of the yellow center line. They apparently didn’t have budget to repaint the road markings, so the resurfaced around them. Aiee!</blockquote>Funding for basic infrastructure is a whopping $75 billion less than it was three years ago due to budget cuts and a gas tax that hasn't been updated since 1993,<br /><br />For the last three years, state, local and federal government groups have dramatically cut spending on roads, bridges and other infrastructure.  We currently spend less than half of what we need for highway repair -- and if we continue to not fix basic issues, it will only get worse.<br /><br />Unfortunately, federal, state, and local governments are only spending $91 billion annually on capital investments, meaning that each year our roads deteriorate further.<br /><br />It is not just highways in need of repair.  Over a tenth of American bridges need significant repair and maintenance.  Every day, 260 million trips are taken across these dangerous bridges.<br /><br />We need to refocus our priorities and start repairing our infrastructure while we can still afford to do so.  In the meantime, try to avoid the potholes.

austerity infrastructure US spending on infrastructure nosedives

The chart tells it all.Next time you blow a tire in a pothole, you'll know why: Government spending has plummeted for American roads, bridges and transit systems. We're well on our way to becoming a third-world country.The naked capitalist writes tha…

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Shouldn't CEOs get the same treatment as the Bishop of Bling?

Pope Francis set a good example for corporate boards when he<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-w-gerard/poisonous-million-dollar_b_4167865.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications" rel="nofollow"> busted the Bishop of Bling</a>, argues Brother Larry Cohen, president of the <a href="http://www.cwa-union.org/" rel="nofollow">Communications Workers of America</a>.<br /><br />The pontiff recently suspended German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who spent $42 million to renovate his luxurious residence and billed the Vatican for it. The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478230/Bishop-Blings-26m-Limburg-mansion-turned-soup-kitchen.html" rel="nofollow">mansion may be turned into a soup kitchen or a refugee center</a>. <br /><br />The Roman Catholic Church's new pope is a refreshing change to the aristocratic leaders we've been saddled with in the last few decades. He chose the name of a saint who lived among the poor. He lives in Spartan rooms, drives a 1984 Renault and wears loafers instead of the handmade red slippers of his predecessors.<br /><br />CWA's Cohen, in a recent <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-w-gerard/poisonous-million-dollar_b_4167865.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications" rel="nofollow">Huffington Post</a>, says corporate boards of directors should follow the pope's example, "banishing imperial CEOs and rejecting royal pay package demands."<br /><br />A corporate board demeans its employees when it awards a CEO 1,287 times what it pays the typical worker for his labor and loyalty, writes Cohen.<br /><br />Someone actually did make 1,287 times what the median worker at his company got paid: Larry Ellison, CEO of technology giant Oracle, according to a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/ceo-pay-1-795-to-1-multiple-of-workers-skirts-law-as-sec-delays.html">Bloomberg estimate</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> are especially unhappy with McKesson CEO John Hammergren, who took home $57 million last year. Newly organized Teamsters at McKesson's Lakeland, Fla., warehouse don't make enough to afford health care.<br /><br />Cohen cites <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9deb27f8-2c3b-11e3-8b20-00144feab7de.html%23axzz2huhETtZz">British economist Andrew Smithers, who figures</a> American companies in the 1970s devoted 15 times as much capital to investments  as they distributed to shareholders. Writes Cohen:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Now it's less than 2 to 1. Today, CEOs suck out companies' value rather than building for the future.</blockquote>The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing to shame imperial CEOs by requiring them to disclose the ratio of worker pay to CEO pay.<br /><br />You can bet the SEC is hearing from corporate lobbyists to squelch this proposal. If you'd like the SEC to hear your voice as well, you can send a comment letter. Just click <a href="http://bit.ly/1ccoI50" rel="nofollow">here</a> and follow the easy instructions.<br /><br />

austerity CEO Pay inequality Shouldn't CEOs get the same treatment as the Bishop of Bling?

Pope Francis set a good example for corporate boards when he busted the Bishop of Bling, argues Brother Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America.The pontiff recently suspended German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who spe…

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Kochs are at it again, attacking your Social Security

<div style="background-color: white;">Sen. Bernie Sanders is raising the alarm about greedy billionaires like the  <strike style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;"><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/10/bombshell-kochs-sold-oil-equipment-to.html" style="color: #336699;">Benedict Arnold</a></strike> Koch brothers trying to cut our Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Because their greed knows no limit, they want more for themselves.<br /><br />We received an email from Bernie that we thought we'd share with you:<br /><blockquote>They're at it again. </blockquote><blockquote>Billionaires like the Koch Brothers, Pete Peterson, Stanley Druckenmiller and others are leading the charge to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. </blockquote><blockquote>If they succeed, millions of senior citizens, working families, disabled veterans and children will suffer. We must not allow that to happen. </blockquote><blockquote>Today, the middle class is disappearing, real unemployment is extremely high, poverty is increasing and working families throughout the country are struggling to keep their heads above water economically. Meanwhile, the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider and the wealthiest people and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well. </blockquote><blockquote>We must not balance the budget on the backs of working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor. </blockquote><blockquote>As Vermont's senator, I have the honor of serving on the Budget Conference Committee which will be negotiating a new federal budget over the next few months -- and where I am fearful that a deal could be struck to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. </blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://teamster.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2%26c=aQsw3tIOFnxpop08Xau3ZjVH3RGaJD3v" target="_blank">As the founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus, please stand with me, our friends at Social Security Works and our coalition partners in demanding; "No grand bargain in exchange for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits."</a> </blockquote><blockquote>Let's be clear. Despite right-wing rhetoric:<ul style="background-color: white;"><li>Social Security is not going broke. According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security has a surplus today of $2.8 trillion and can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible person for the next 20 years.</li></ul><ul style="background-color: white;"><li>Social Security has not contributed to the deficit. Social Security is funded independently by FICA taxes which are paid by workers and their employers.</li></ul><a class="buttonthing" href="https://teamster.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2%26c=26YuB4UzYGhHBKb3QANTLklE39OdngJ8" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">Sign this petition.</a> </blockquote><blockquote>The so-called chained-CPI, which recalculates how COLA's are formulated, is not a "modest tweak." If the chained CPI went into effect today, a senior aged 65 would receive $658 a year less in Social Security benefits when he/she is 75, and $1,100 a year less at age 85. Further, the average disabled veteran would lose tens of thousands of dollars in benefits over his/her lifetime. </blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://teamster.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2%26c=P5gEI205klVWPxZZYFMWIElE39OdngJ8" target="_blank">Please stand with me today and demand that Congress and the President oppose any grand bargain which cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.</a> </blockquote><blockquote><br />When one out of four U.S. corporations pay nothing in federal income taxes; when Bush's tax breaks for the rich remain in place for many wealthy Americans; when the U.S. spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defense, there are much fairer and economically sound ways to address the budget than cutting programs desperately needed by the most vulnerable people in our country. </blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://teamster.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://caf.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2%26c=4Etw6IQzVgW8pu8KEYXPlUlE39OdngJ8" target="_blank">Please stand with me and Campaign for America's Future in protecting the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.</a> </blockquote><blockquote>Let's go forward together. Thanks for your continued support. </blockquote><blockquote>Sincerely,<br /><img alt="Bernie Sanders" src="https://teamster.org/exchweb/img/clear1x1.gif" /><br />U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders</blockquote></div><span style="background-color: white;"></span>

austerity Koch brothers social security Kochs are at it again, attacking your Social Security

Sen. Bernie Sanders is raising the alarm about greedy billionaires like the  Benedict Arnold Koch brothers trying to cut our Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Because their greed knows no limit, they want more for themselves.We received an emai…

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Austerity: The real winner of the government shutdown

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCu5-cGsVel-NMCEXXRtxlPbyQriTWDMEjk_uXkXM6XSxV8fHDcUo2EJ5oWRcqaAXqH3tG520wdrl3zVfMsBe6tq9NZcgO6Gc2bj0mrnds_ddqRnBEn5haGfFYrLCcNb6UPW39e_8_TKAx/s1600/austerity_anti_worker_cuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCu5-cGsVel-NMCEXXRtxlPbyQriTWDMEjk_uXkXM6XSxV8fHDcUo2EJ5oWRcqaAXqH3tG520wdrl3zVfMsBe6tq9NZcgO6Gc2bj0mrnds_ddqRnBEn5haGfFYrLCcNb6UPW39e_8_TKAx/s200/austerity_anti_worker_cuts.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">A popular thing to say on Capitol Hill is that there were <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/watch-live-obama-outlines-what-comes-next/70644/" rel="nofollow">no winners in the government shutdown</a> and debt ceiling crisis that ended last night. </span><br /></span><br />But once again, savage cuts to social spending have won the day. Sure, the conflict may have been a terrible embarrassment for the GOP, but the Wall Street-backed tea party agenda of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austerity" rel="nofollow">austerity</a> came out unscathed.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-austerity-20131016,0,1067125.story" rel="nofollow"><em>Los Angeles Times</em> observed</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the shadow of the shutdown passes, it's proper to be reminded again that this fight involved spending levels that are materially suppressing economic growth and hampering the recovery.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Specifically, the deal soon to be voted on leaves the sequester in place, at least until Jan. 15….The sequester is merely one manifestation of Congress's love for austerity in the post-recession era. From the inception, recovery programs have never been as large or robust as they needed to be, despite evidence that even harsher austerity regimes kept much of Europe mired in slumps.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the deal that was negotiated yesterday to reopen the government and suspend the debt ceiling didn’t just leave the austerity assault in place. It may end up escalating the assault on workers even more. Richard Eskow at the <a href="http://ourfuture.org/20131016/winning-the-peace-the-post-shutdown-challenge" rel="nofollow">Campaign for America’s Future writes</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This deal will bend the next few months’ deliberations along the same misguided lines that have guided our political discourse for years now. House and Senate members will be encouraged to come up with a “deficit reduction plan” -- in other words, to impose another round of cuts just like those which have already wounded the economy and shredded millions of jobs.</span></blockquote>Specifically, Congress’s latest deal opens the door to further cuts that will target working Americans by <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304384104579139881517789174.html" rel="nofollow">establishing a bipartisan committee to deal with budget issues</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeah, another one of those! And you can be sure that this committee will try to hash out a “<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/10/truth-behind-grand-bargain.html">Grand Bargain</a>,” which is basically Washington-speak for harsher cuts and “entitlement reform” -- “entitlement reform,” by the way, is Washington-speak for gutting Social Security and Medicare.<br /><br />But austerity was the winner even before that part of the deal was conceived. That’s because the goalposts in Congress’s spending debates have already been moved to austerity’s side of the field.<br /><em>Think Progress</em> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/15/2782911/republican-victory-sequestration/" rel="nofollow">reports</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">It may seem like ancient history, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_sequestration_in_2013" rel="nofollow">sequestration</a> was originally designed to be so unpalatable to both parties that the threat of its automatic budget cuts to both defense and non-defense programs alike would be enough to force lawmakers to come to a grand bargain budget agreement. As it first went into effect in March, Republicans tried to pin the blame for any negative consequences on President Obama. But they gradually came out in favor of sequestration’s devastating cuts and have now made it the baseline in the fight over funding the government.</blockquote>According to the <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/" rel="nofollow">Center for American Progress</a>, Obama’s original budget for 2014 was $1.203 trillion. In 2010, Republicans took control of the House and deficit hawk <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-premium-wine-for-me-catfood.html">Paul Ryan</a> proposed a 2014 budget of $1.095 trillion -- that's 10 percent <em>more</em> than what Congress just passed to end the shutdown.<br /><br />Outrageously, the justification for all these spending reductions is baseless. The country’s supposedly out-of-control <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/deficit-falling-falling-falling" rel="nofollow">debt has been falling significantly over the last two years</a>.<br /><br />But for tea party extremists, austerity was never about getting the deficit under control. It’s about shrinking government in a way that punishes workers and the poor. Even during the shutdown, what was deemed “essential” and “non-essential” gives you an idea of what parts of government right-wing elites think is important. So <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/10/08/2748461/members-only-congressional-gyms-deemed-essential-remain-open-during-shutdown/" rel="nofollow">Congress’s gym – complete with heated pools and a sauna – was essential</a>. Food assistance to low-income mothers and children? Non-essential.<br /><br />Now, the latest agreement sets the stage for another budget and debt limit battle just in time for another round of sequester cuts. As we wrote at <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/joy-over-proposed-budget-deal-should-be-short-lived">Teamster.org</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...our government will be funded at a significantly reduced level than it should be... because of sequester cuts that went into effect last year.</blockquote>For now, we’ve avoided default, reopened the government and hundreds of thousands of locked-out government workers are back to work. That’s definitely a good thing. But now anti-worker zealots in Washington are hoping that sharper austerity measures won't seem so bad compared to the pain caused by the shutdown.<br /><br />Don’t be fooled.<br /><br />

anti-worker extremists austerity budget deficit debt ceiling government shutdown grand bargain Sequestration tea party Wall Street Austerity: The real winner of the government shutdown

A popular thing to say on Capitol Hill is that there were no winners in the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis that ended last night. But once again, savage cuts to social spending have won the day. Sure, the conflict may have been a terribl…

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