Today's Teamster News 10.19.13

<a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-stop-fmcsa-attack-truck-drivers" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Stop FMCSA Attack on Truck Drivers</a>  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union helped score a victory for truck drivers this week when <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d113:h.r.3095:">H.R. 3095</a> was signed into law compelling the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to follow the formal rulemaking process to set strict guidelines for when they can require screening, testing and treatment for sleep apnea...<br /><a href="http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/10/star-ledger_unions_ratify_new.html" rel="nofollow">Star-Ledger unions ratify new 4-year contracts, agree to buyouts</a>   Star-Ledger   ...After months of negotiations under the cloud of a threatened shutdown of the state’s largest newspaper, the Star-Ledger’s production unions, including the Teamsters Union, have ratified new four-year contracts, agreeing to buyout packages for at least 55 workers...<br /><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/165470/end-recession-seniors-workforce.aspx">Since End of U.S. Recession, More Seniors in Workforce</a>  Gallup   ... There has been a three-point increase since 2010 in the percentage of Americans aged 65 and older who are in the workforce -- employed full time through an employer, self-employed, working part time, or unemployed but actively searching for work. At the same time, there has been a two-point decrease in the percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who are in the workforce...<br /><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/18/millennials-still-lag-in-forming-their-own-households/" rel="nofollow">Millennials still lag in forming their own households </a> Pew Research   ... most Millennials (adults ages 18 to 32) are still not setting out on their own. As of March 2013, only about one-in-three Millennials (34%) headed up their own household...<br /><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-18/debt-still-worth-degree" rel="nofollow">Is The Debt Still Worth The Degree?</a>  zero hedge   ...The price of a college education has increased 1,000% or more over the past 3 decades...<br /><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115256/government-shutdown-has-not-ended-and-wont-years">You Thought the Government Shutdown Was Over. You Were Wrong.</a> New Republic ...It was an awful time. Federal employees had to take unpaid furlough days. Beneficiaries were thrown off of federal programs. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/23/sequestration-impact-wyoming_n_3976250.html">Courthouses had to be sold</a>. Federal agencies like the FBI, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health strained to meet commitments, leading to more crime, more outbreaks of disease and less basic research, among other horrors. This may sound like a description of the recent government shutdown, which ended October 16. But this describes the fallout from sequestration...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/pro-coal-kids-pages-pulled-government-site-public-pressure-increases">Pro-Coal Kids' Pages Pulled from Government Site as Public Pressure Increases</a> Alternet ...The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has removed coal-related educational sections from its website, less than two weeks after the launch of a grassroots campaign demanding that the pages be taken down...<br /><a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/19481-food-stamp-outage-highlights-problems-with-privatization-of-public-services" rel="nofollow">Food Stamp Outage Highlights Problems With Privatization of Public Services</a>  Truthout   ...Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a subsidiary of Xerox since 2000 that specializes in privatizing government administrative services for the most economically vulnerable Americans, has taken heat in the past for siphoning excessive fees from welfare recipients, mismanaging Medicaid payment systems, and failing to complete multimillion dollar contracts for public agencies...<br /><a href="http://storify.com/fasteddie9318/fix-the-debt-s-fix-the-debt-q-and-a-needs-to-be-f" rel="nofollow">"Fix the Debt's" "Fix the Debt Q&A" needs to be fixed</a> (hilarious)  Storify   ..."Fix the Debt" decided to have a Twitter Q&A about fixing the debt. I'm not sure it went the way they wanted...<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/18/how-mexico-is-upending-the-u-s-auto-industry/" rel="nofollow">How Mexico is upending the U.S. auto industry</a>  Washington Post ...More U.S. automakers <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/with-mexican-auto-manufacturing-boom-new-worries/2013/07/01/10dd57e8-d7d9-11e2-b418-9dfa095e125d_story.html" rel="nofollow">have been shifting</a> their plants south of the border, attracted by Mexico's lower wages and dense industrial clusters…<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/states-clamping-down-on-workers-mislabeled-as-contractors.html" rel="nofollow">States Clamping Down on Workers Mislabeled as Contractors</a>  Bloomberg News   ...When construction slowed during the recession, some companies hired workers and wrongly designated them as independent contractors to avoid paying insurance, taxes, fair wages and overtime...<br /><a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/68445/scott-walker-steers-state-funds-to-union-busters" rel="nofollow">Scott Walker Steers State Funds to Union Busters</a>  PolicyMic   ...Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) made headlines in 2011 with his plans to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/scott-walker-anti-union-restrictions_n_3682957.html" rel="nofollow">bust public sector unions</a> and strip unions of their collective bargaining powers, which led to mass protests in the Madison Capitol building. Now he is back with his latest contribution to increasing jobs in Wisconsin: making them up and steering them to his supporters...<br /><a href="http://www.hcpress.com/arts/moral-monday-leader-comes-to-boone-oct-28-rev-barbers-speech-begins-at-730-p-m-at-schaefer-center.html" rel="nofollow">Moral Monday Leader Comes To Boone Oct. 28</a>  High Country Press   ...Moral Monday leader Rev. William Barber II will address “The Necessity of a Moral Movement in North Carolina and the Nation” on Monday, Oct. 28...<br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bart-strike-commuters-affected-20131018,0,5820062.story" rel="nofollow">BART strike: About 400,000 S.F.-area commuters to be affected</a>  Los Angeles Times   ...Bay Area residents were without commuter rail service and facing a morning of frustration Friday as BART workers went on strike after a week of marathon negotiation collapsed overnight...<br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/17/michigan-walmart-worker-says-was-fired-for-helping-assaulted-woman/">Michigan Walmart worker says he was fired for helping assaulted woman</a>  Associated Press ...A Michigan man says he was fired from his job at Walmart after he tried to help a woman being assaulted in the parking lot of one of the retail giant's stores and ended up fighting with her attacker...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/breaking_wal_mart_workers_on_strike_in_florida/" rel="nofollow">Wal-Mart workers on strike, defying firings</a>  The Salon   ...In protest of paltry hours and defiance of firings, over 80 Wal-Mart workers in Hialeah, Florida walk off the job...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/17/super-rich-americans-chart_n_4115576.html" rel="nofollow">The U.S. Blows Everyone Else Out Of The Water In 1 Key Way</a>  Huffington Post   ...That one way? We're really, really good at creating really, really rich people -- like, $50 million-plus rich. Just ignore the fact that our 400 wealthiest people are worth more than the entire bottom half of the country combined. Look at the chart…<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/krugman_on_gops_top_down_class_warfare/" rel="nofollow">Krugman on GOP’s “top-down class warfare”</a>  The Salon   ...The New York Times columnist explains how the GOP policies have stalled a true economic recovery...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/week-blackness/mcdonalds-has-their-hands-all-our-pockets" rel="nofollow">McDonald's Has Their Hands in All of Our Pockets</a>  AlterNet   ...Do you want to pay for billion dollar companies to make more money? Of course not, but in recent studies, we learned that we are, in fact, playing billions of dollar to support low-wage fast food workers for America's top seven restaurant chains...<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-16/euro-capitals-tighten-fiscal-leash-as-eu-starts-austerity-police.html" rel="nofollow">Euro Capitals Tighten Fiscal Leash as EU Polices Cuts</a>  Bloomberg News   ...Even with the 17-nation euro area projecting economic expansion next year, policy makers are keeping a fiscal leash on growth by maintaining austerity policies to save the euro...<br /><br />

Today's Teamster News 10.19.13

Teamsters Stop FMCSA Attack on Truck Drivers   teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union helped score a victory for truck drivers this week when...

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