Today's Teamster News 10.21.13

<a href="http://aattp.org/tea-party-rep-farenthold-disabled-vets-hurt-gop-shut-make-sacrifices/" rel="nofollow">Tea Party Rep. Farenthold To Disabled Vets Hurt By GOP Shut-Down: ‘You have to Make Sacrifices!’</a>  aatp.org   ...Congressman Blake Farenthold (R- Texas...) told veterans about to lose their disability checks due to the government shutdown, that they would have to make sacrifices...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/20/democrats-social-security-cuts_n_4132087.html" rel="nofollow">Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts</a>  Huffington Post   ...Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday opened the door to Social Security cuts as part of a budget deal with congressional Republicans...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/176715/farmworkers-hit-nyc-protest-wendys-labor-practices#" rel="nofollow">Farmworkers Hit NYC to Protest Wendy’s Labor Practices</a>  The Nation   ...The members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) had just arrived in the city from Immokalee, Florida, and were gathered to pressure Wendy’s to sign on to CIW’s Fair Food Program (FFP), an initiative that ensures fast-food chains purchase tomatoes from ethical produce suppliers...<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/19/how-stores-use-your-phones-wifi-to-track-your-shopping-habits/" rel="nofollow">How stores use your phone’s WiFi to track your shopping habits </a> Washington Post   ...in a retail environment, other in-store equipment can pick up your WiFi card, learn your device's unique ID number and use it to keep tabs on that device over time as you move through the store...<br /><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-10-20/indirect-slavery-we%E2%80%99re-all-guilty" rel="nofollow">(In)Direct Slavery: We’re All Guilty</a>  Pivotfarm   ...There are 29.8 million slaves in the world. They mostly work in developing and emerging countries producing goods that are destined for the Western world and our own markets...<br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-mexico-cartel-honcho-reportedly-killed-by-clowns-20131019,0,4576466.story" rel="nofollow">Mexico cartel honcho reportedly killed by gunmen dressed as clowns</a>  Los Angeles Times   ...Gunmen dressed as clowns burst into a children’s party and shot to death the eldest brother of one of Mexico’s erstwhile largest and feared drug-trafficking families, Mexican officials and press said Saturday...<br /><a href="http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_20/10/2013_523992" rel="nofollow">In Greece, wisdom of privatizations under question</a>  Ekathimerini   ...Unions have long warned that the planned offloading of stakes in utility and transport companies will impose higher water and gas prices to a population already struggling through a six-year recession. Wages have fallen by over 22 percent since 2010 according to state statistics, and unemployment has soared to over 27 percent of the active workforce...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/19/the_birth_of_fox_news/" rel="nofollow">The birth of Fox News</a>  Salon   ...From day one, Rupert Murdoch's baby was louder and angrier than its competitors. The media has never recovered...<br /><a href="http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19519-meat-so-cheap-you-could-die" rel="nofollow">Meat So Cheap You Could Die</a>  Other Words   ...The first known salmonella cases from this latest bout of bad chicken occurred in March. They continued through at least late September. That means consumers bought and ate contaminated meat for at least seven months before they learned that something might be amiss. Since it takes a few weeks to report and confirm a new case, it’s likely more people will get sick than the early numbers indicated....<br /><a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/19510-the-abject-failure-of-reaganomics" rel="nofollow">The Abject Failure of Reaganomics</a> (opinion)  Consortium News   ...If a large segment of the American public continues to buy into the Tea Party’s fake reality, then it is likely that both the political damage and the economic decline will continue apace, with fewer good-paying jobs, a shrinking middle class and more of the bitter alienation that has fed the Tea Party’s growth in the first place. In other words, the United States will remain in a vicious circle that is also a downward spiral...<br /><a href="http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2011/05/03/ohios-hidden-bob-evans-subsidies?fb_action_ids=10153408293135347&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210153408293135347%22%3A10150171024484651%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210153408293135347%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D" rel="nofollow">Ohio's Hidden Bob Evans Subsidies</a>  CleveScene   ... a just-released study … found that more than one in every eight Bob Evans employees qualifies for Medicaid, food assistance, or cash assistance from the state. The taxpayer cost is pegged at $14 million annually…

farmworkers fast food workers food safety Fox News Greece mexican drug violence slavery spying tea party veterans Today's Teamster News 10.21.13

Tea Party Rep. Farenthold To Disabled Vets Hurt By GOP Shut-Down: ‘You have to Make Sacrifices!’  aatp.org   ...Congressman Blake Farenthold (R- Texas...) told veterans about to lose their disability checks due to the government shutdown, that they w…

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Biggest wave of fast-food strikes begins today

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container tr_bq" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlw40T38H_W-SA6YquGRfzhF25aLpbV6LLI47lAD4TGCVwiiUP_3S18ylCb7uKJyop0iwapZh7j6DJUThdhXu8ZKQPZurw1_6YSwKs-dWqJS2CZNR4-boWuTOcvWOY6MbCTmMiJ6MOUF4/s1600/fast+food+strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlw40T38H_W-SA6YquGRfzhF25aLpbV6LLI47lAD4TGCVwiiUP_3S18ylCb7uKJyop0iwapZh7j6DJUThdhXu8ZKQPZurw1_6YSwKs-dWqJS2CZNR4-boWuTOcvWOY6MbCTmMiJ6MOUF4/s320/fast+food+strike.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fast-food strike in New York City today.</td></tr></tbody></table>A wave of fast-food strikes began in New York City today as workers prepare to walk off the job in seven more cities over the next few days. It is likely to be the biggest mobilization of low-wage workers since the short, sudden one-day job actions began in November.<br /><br />Fast-food workers are striking in restaurants like McDonald's, Papa John's and Wendy's in New York City. More walkouts are planned for Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Mo., and Flint, Mich. The workers demand a living wage and the right to form a union without retaliation.<br /><br />The success of previous fast-food strikes has given momentum to the growing movement for livable wages. Josh Eidelson, writing in <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/29/fast_food_strikes_intensify_in_seven_cities/" rel="nofollow">Salon</a>, spoke to a fast-food worker a month ago:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">St. Louis Jimmy John’s employee Rasheen Aldridge told Salon that there “was a whole lot of nervousness” when he and three co-workers at his store first went on strike in May. “There was a big chance that I could of got fired,” said Aldridge, “because that’s just how, you know, fast food operates.” But when they returned to work in one piece, he said his co-workers’ reaction was “You know, you guys sort of took the step we all need to do.”</blockquote>Today's walkout is generating national media attention, as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/sunday-review/fighting-back-against-wretched-wages.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">The New York Times</a>, broadcast and cable news networks and the <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/fast-food-strike-detroit-st-louis-new-york-chicago-3-other-cities-striking-monday-increased-pay">financial press</a>. Steven Greenhouse at The New York Times writes:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Often relegated to the background, America’s low-wage workers have been making considerable noise lately by deploying an unusual weapon — one-day strikes — to make their message heard: they’re sick and tired of earning just $8, $9, $10 an hour. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Their anger has been stoked by what they see as a glaring disconnect: their wages have flatlined, while median pay for chief executives at the nation’s top corporations jumped 16 percent last year, averaging a princely $15.1 million, according to Equilar, an executive compensation analysis firm. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In recent weeks, workers from McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other fast-food restaurants — many of them part-time employees — have staged one-day walkouts in New York, Chicago, Detroit and Seattle to protest their earnings, typically just $150 to $350 a week, often too little to support themselves and their families. </blockquote><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-29/fast-food-workers-strike-for-higher-wages-in-u-s-cities.html" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg News</a> reports that low-wage jobs are the fastest growing sector of the U.S. economy:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, is adding jobs faster than any other sector in the U.S. In June, the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USEHTOTS:IND" rel="nofollow">sector</a> added 75,000 jobs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fast-food cooks make $9.02 an hour, or about $18,760 a year, on average, according to 2012 <a href="http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag72.htm" rel="nofollow">data</a> from the Washington-based agency.</blockquote>The problem of low wages isn't limited to fast-food workers. Today, Hope Yen at the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/28/poverty-unemployment-rates_n_3666594.html?utm_hp_ref=tw">Associated Press</a> reported that 80 percent of adults in the United States struggle to earn enough money at some point in their lives:<br /><blockquote>Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream... </blockquote><blockquote>Nationwide, the count of America's poor remains stuck at a record number: 46.2 million, or 15 percent of the population, due in part to lingering high unemployment following the recession.</blockquote>

fast food workers low-wage jobs strike Biggest wave of fast-food strikes begins today

Fast-food strike in New York City today.A wave of fast-food strikes began in New York City today as workers prepare to walk off the job in seven more cities over the next few days. It is likely to be the biggest mobilization of low-wage workers since…

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McDonald's to workers: Don't buy gas, heat your house or save for retirement

<div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfB1E_eadI9F6TuD9DQ1Byfi8F0l28j8A48y5rVjoZzI7H5b3um5m_Yt9Gc19-6HB7HYgt0uG2F4D9M8J4S6BwEMuGIle702kNgyP1u5Q2_kbZXEGv1xxBEgOfakDo2C9EWN5mFV8D6Vej/s1600/mcdonalds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfB1E_eadI9F6TuD9DQ1Byfi8F0l28j8A48y5rVjoZzI7H5b3um5m_Yt9Gc19-6HB7HYgt0uG2F4D9M8J4S6BwEMuGIle702kNgyP1u5Q2_kbZXEGv1xxBEgOfakDo2C9EWN5mFV8D6Vej/s1600/mcdonalds.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Onion couldn't have done a better job.</td></tr></tbody></table>McDonald's is "helping" its workers by advising them to forgo heat, health care and food. That way, they'll remain mired in poverty while working two jobs if they don't freeze or starve first.<br /><br />The fast-food giant, along with credit-card conglomerate Visa, recently unveiled a much-ridiculed website <a href="http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/mcdonalds/budget/budget2.php">to educate workers about how to manage their money</a>.  With fast food workers across the country complaining about poverty jobs, McDonald's must have thought it was stepped in to save the day with budgeting advice. The company just stepped in it.<br /><br />The McDonald’s website says that jobs are “<a href="http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers/benefits.html">a great way to earn extra income for anyone, from students to moms and dads</a>.” The problem is not that minimum wage has decreased about a third in value in the past 60 years, or that half of all minimum wage workers are full-fledged adults struggling to <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353021.htm">survive on an average wage of $8.68 per hour</a>. <br /><br />According to McDonald's, they need to budget more.<br /><br />The sample budget assumes workers have two part-time jobs that they work 52.7 hours a week, on an average fast food wage.  The budget includes savings, car payments and a $600 mortgage.<br /><br />What it doesn’t include is groceries.  Too bad -- one of the McDonalds-approved saving methods is <a href="http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/mcdonalds/video.php">eating at </a><a href="http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/mcdonalds/video.php">McDonald's</a>.<br /><br />Healthcare, included in the budget, is supposed to cost $20 a month, the amount the average McDonald's healthcare plan costs per <i>week</i>.  For the minimum wage workers at McDonald's, healthcare is so inaccessible that only 30,000 company and franchisee employees are enrolled in the company healthcare plan. That's less than half the number of new employees <a href="http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers.html">hired in a single day</a>last month.<o:p></o:p><br /><br />The budget is so out of whack that it doesn’t even account for paying your McDonald’s uniform (or any other clothes).  Or gasoline.  Or heating for your house.  Or non-essential purchases, a decent emergency fund, children, or being sick.<br /><br />But then, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/mcdonald-s-8-25-man-and-8-75-million-ceo-shows-pay-gap.html">McDonalds acknowledges that workers aren’t actually supposed to be surviving off of what they make</a>.  That would ruin their whole profit model.  In the meantime, for struggling workers, McDonald’s offers advice:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">“Everyone has a goal. (For our workers) it is spending less money than you make.”</blockquote></div>

fast food strike fast food workers low-wage workers McDonald's to workers: Don't buy gas, heat your house or save for retirement

The Onion couldn't have done a better job.McDonald's is "helping" its workers by advising them to forgo heat, health care and food. That way, they'll remain mired in poverty while working two jobs if they don't freeze or starve first.The fast-food gi…

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