Today's Teamster News 09.26.13

(UPDATES with items about federal contract worker pay)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/hoffa-calls-cruz-right-wing-extremists-stop-aca-misrepresentations" rel="nofollow">Hoffa Calls On Cruz, Right-Wing Extremists To Stop ACA Misrepresentations</a>  teamster.org   ...Here's an official statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa...<br /><a href="http://www.teamstersjc25.com/news/2013/092313_L330_SeniorFlexonicsContract.html" rel="nofollow">Hundreds of Manufacturing Workers Ratify First Teamster Contract</a>  Joint Council 25   ...Approximately 340 manufacturing employees at Senior Flexonics ratified their first contract with Teamsters Local 330 by a 3-to-1 margin...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-private-prison-quotas-rob-taxpayers" rel="nofollow">Teamsters: Private Prison Quotas Rob Taxpayers</a>  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union is denouncing the findings of a new study revealing that private prison management firms have contracts that directly link profits to inmate capacity. The Teamsters Union represents 30,000 correctional officers in 20 states across the country...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/audio/download/91870/Leslie%20Marshall%20Interviews%20Louis%20Malizia%209-23.mp3">Teamsters Capital Strategies Speaks Out On Wage Disparity</a>  The Leslie Marshall Show ...A proposed rule for the Security and Exchange Commission would shed light on the ratio of media worker pay versus that of a company’s CEO...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/BASIS_TLA_October_2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">BASIS TLA Scheduled October 7-11</a>  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a Teamsters Leadership Academy for new local union business agents, October 7-11, 2013, at the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/8613OfficeManagersTLA2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">Organizational Skills for Office Managers Scheduled for November 6-8</a>  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a TLA for Teamster Office Managers and key administrative staff, November 6-8, 2013, at the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/25/2677071/federal-contracts-send-billions-of-dollars-to-ceos-but-pay-workers-a-poverty-wage/" rel="nofollow">Federal Contracts Send Billions Of Dollars To CEOs But Pay Workers A Poverty Wage </a> ThinkProgress   ...The contracting practices that make the federal government the largest low-wage employer in the country are also paying top corporate executives nearly $24 billion per year according to new research from the think tank Demos...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/24/federal_workers_to_strike_march_on_white_house_wednesday/" rel="nofollow">Federal workers to strike, march on White House Wednesday</a>  Salon   ...Cleaning and concessions workers in federal buildings will protest their taxpayer-funded poverty jobs...<br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/how-bad-data-warped-everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-the-jobs-recovery/279923/" rel="nofollow">How Bad Data Warped Everything We Thought We Knew About the Jobs Recovery</a>  The Atlantic   ... the jobs report's real margin of error has been about as big as the average jobs report itself the past few years...<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-25/wal-mart-cutting-orders-as-unsold-merchandise-piles-up.html" rel="nofollow">Wal-Mart Cutting Orders as Unsold Merchandise Piles Up</a>  Bloomberg News   ...<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/WMT:US" rel="nofollow">Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)</a> is cutting orders it places with suppliers this quarter and next to address rising inventories the company flagged in last month’s earnings report...<br /><a href="http://www.tradereform.org/2013/09/steelmakers-rally-china/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=steelmakers-rally-china" rel="nofollow">Steelmakers rally against China</a>  Pittsburgh Business Times   ...Steel manufacturers in the U.S. have been filing complaints with U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission against a number of countries, including China, charging that unregulated imports are causing material injury to the domestic steel industry...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/austerity-measures-push-greek-universities-collapse" rel="nofollow">Austerity measures push Greek universities to point of collapse </a> The Guardian   ...Internationally mandated austerity measures have pushed universities in Greece to the point of collapse with many of the debt-stricken country's pre-eminent higher education institutions being forced to suspend operations...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves" rel="nofollow">Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'</a>  The Guardian   ...thousands of Nepalese, who make up the single largest group of labourers in Qatar, face exploitation and abuses that amount to modern-day slavery, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, during a building binge paving the way for 2022...<br /><a href="http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Union-to-Protest-Staffing-Levels-at-Iowa-Prisons-225166992.html" rel="nofollow">Union to Protest Staffing Levels at Iowa Prisons</a>  Associated Press   ...The union that represents correctional officers at Iowa prisons is planning an informational picket to raise awareness about what it calls dangerously low staffing levels...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/cfpb-sallie-mae_n_3985330.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business" rel="nofollow">CFPB Takes Aim At Sallie Mae For Student Loan Servicing</a>  Huffington Post   ...A federal consumer regulator has taken aim at the Department of Education’s preferred companies for servicing the agency’s $1 trillion in student loans, highlighting potentially poor customer service and raising the specter of increased government scrutiny...<br /><a href="http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/09/is-president-obama-in-denial-about-the-national-threat-wall-street-poses/" rel="nofollow">Is President Obama In Denial About the National Threat Wall Street Poses</a> (opinion)  Wall Street on Parade   ...This is not a banking system – this is an institutionalized, legalized, mechanized, wealth transfer system bearing the imprimatur of the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress through their refusal to take the simple measure that can stop the looting in its tracks – the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/chaunceydevega/republican-vote-cut-food-stamps-really-decision-kill-useless-eaters" rel="nofollow">The Republican Vote to Cut Food Stamps is Really a Decision to Kill the "Useless Eaters"</a> (opinion)  AlterNet   ...15 million Americans were “food insecure” in the United States during 2012. The Great Recession has increased the number of Americans who do not have sufficient food by 30 percent. The fastest growing group of people who need some assistance is the elderly...<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/companies-beefing-up-their-political-spending-disclosures/2013/09/24/3531a21c-252b-11e3-b3e9-d97fb087acd6_story.html" rel="nofollow">Some public companies are divulging more details about their political contributions</a>  Washington Post   ...Some of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies are divulging more details about their political contributions, in part to ward off lawsuits and mounting <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/shareholders-press-companies-to-disclose-more-about-political-spending/2013/05/17/ed1392e4-bf34-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html" rel="nofollow">pressure from shareholders</a>, who increasingly have thrust the issue before boards of directors...<br /><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-city-workers-protest-emanuel-over-contract-talks-20130924,0,4852310.story" rel="nofollow">City workers protest Emanuel over contract talks</a>  Chicago Tribune   ...Scores of union workers protested outside city buildings during lunch Tuesday, taking aim at Mayor Rahm Emanuel for what they contend is an attempt to retroactively freeze their wages after privatizing hundreds of jobs in the past couple of years...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/opinion/exposing-the-pay-gap.html?ref=opinion&_r=2&" rel="nofollow">Exposing The Pay Gap</a>  New York Times   ...Of all the provisions in the vast and complex Dodd-Frank financial reform law, one of the most far-reaching is also the most direct and easily understood. It requires public companies to compute and disclose the ratio of a chief executive’s pay to that of a typical employee...<br /><a href="http://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/truckload-freight/hire-trucking-tonnage-index-rose-august_20130924.html" rel="nofollow">For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index Rose in August</a>  Journal of Commerce   ...The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index <a href="http://www.truckline.com/article.aspx?uid=2e2962bf-df21-4db2-8104-968a80ebb93a" rel="nofollow">increased</a> 1.4 percent in August from July, to 126.9, after <a href="http://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/truckload-freight/hire-trucking-tonnage-index-slipped-july_20130821.html" rel="nofollow">slipping</a> 0.6 percent in July...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/how-new-job-application-form-could-save-hundreds-californians-returning-prison" rel="nofollow">How A New Job Application Form Could Save Hundreds Of Californians From Returning To Prison</a>  Think Progress    ...In an attempt to cut down on employment discrimination against felons and reduce recidivism rates, a bill waiting for California Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature would <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2013/09/bill-banning-felony-question-on-job-apps-goes-to-jerry-brown-box-bill-to-jerry-brown.html" rel="nofollow">remove a question</a> on local and state job applications asking applicants about their criminal record...

Today's Teamster News 09.26.13

(UPDATES with items about federal contract worker pay) Hoffa Calls On Cruz, Right-Wing Extremists To Stop ACA Misrepresentations   teamster....

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