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Monday, November 21, 2011

For Retirees, Selling Pensions A Risky Bet | WKNO

The corner of Wall Street and Broadway, showin...Image via Wikipedia
For Retirees, Selling Pensions A Risky Bet | WKNO:

"If something about this seem familiar — taking what has traditionally been a safety net for consumers and turning it into a possible investment for Wall Street — you'd be right, according to Lawrence J. White, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business.

He says there are some similarities to mortgage securities."

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.ero
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Saturday, November 19, 2011

UNPAID BILLS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 17:  A protestor us...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
from CWA District 1
http://bit.ly/vK6xLI


UNPAID BILLS:
HOW VERIZON SHORTCHANGES
GOVERNMENT THROUGH TAX
DODGING AND SUBSIDIES
BY CITIZENS FOR TAX JUSTICE AND GOOD JOBS FIRST
NOVEMBER 201
http://bit.ly/voSiv2



With more than $100 billion in annual revenues and nearly $15 billion in operating profits, Verizon
Communications is a large and prosperous company that should pay a substantial amount in taxes to
federal, state and local governments.


Verizon enjoyed some $14 billion in federal and state corporate income tax subsidies in the 2008-2010 period even though it earned $33.4 billion in pre-tax U.S. income during that time.


At the federal level, Verizon should have paid about $11.4 billion at the statutory rate of 35 percent during the three-year period. Instead, it got $951 million in rebates, putting its federal tax subsidies at $12.3 billion. Its effective federal tax rate was -2.9 percent.


At the state level, Verizon should have paid about $2.3 billion in corporate income taxes during the period but it handed over only $866 million. Its aggregate state rate was only 2.6 percent, far below the weighted state average rate of 6.8 percent. This gave it state tax subsidies of about $1.4 billion.
V

erizon also used a special tax loophole called the ReverseMorrisTrust to avoid paying about $1.5 billion in federal and state and local taxes on the sale of its landline assets in various states.


Verizon also aggressively seeks state and local tax subsidies through credits, abatements and exemptions. There is no centralized reporting on these subsidies but in this report we document $180 million in special tax breaks and grants Verizon and VerizonWireless received in 13 states.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Raids on Occupy Protesters “Inexcusable,” « Talking Union

OWS and CWAImage by peoplesworld via Flickr
OWS and CWAImage by peoplesworld via Flickr
OWS and CWAImage by peoplesworld via Flickr
OWS and CWAImage by peoplesworld via Flickr
Raids on Occupy Protesters “Inexcusable,” « Talking Union: "“They can take away the tarps and the tents. But they can’t slow down the Occupy Wall Street movement,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka following today’s early morning raid on Occupy Wall Street’s Zuccotti Park site and raids and closures of Occupy sites in Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Denver; Albany, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt.; and Chapel Hill, N.C."


The Communications Workers of America have also issued a statement:
“The Communications Workers of America strongly condemns the decision by Mayor Bloomberg to forcibly remove protesters from Zuccotti park. In two short months, Occupy Wall Street has focused the world’s attention on the deep frustration felt by working people about an economy that no longer works for the middle class. The 99% have seen good jobs disappear while the rich get richer and the big banks make billions with impunity. Mayor Bloomberg may have cleared the park for now, but Occupy Wall Street’s message cannot be silenced. No one can evict an idea whose time has come.


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Friday, November 11, 2011

Day 1 Report: Verizon Workers March for the 99% | Communications Workers of America

Map of New York highlighting Columbia CountyImage via Wikipedia
Day 1 Report: Verizon Workers March for the 99% | Communications Workers of America:

"With high spirits and chants of "We are the 99%!", a dozen marchers headed South from Albany to Stuyvesant, New York. The weather for the kick-off was beautiful. Labor leaders and State Senator Breslin, State Assmeblymember McEneny and others joined CWA Vice President Chris Shelton to rally up the crowd in front of the Verizon building, across from the State Capitol and Occupy Albany.

Marchers were warmly greeted upon arrival in Stuyvesant, with some locals bringing beers to share with the group. Some of the marchers wanted to Occupy Stuyvesant after that but Friday is another big day to send a message to the 1% at Verizon. Onward!"

'via Blog this'


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Monday, November 7, 2011

The Banker - YouTube

The Banker - YouTube: "The Banker"




Campaign video by Richard Curtis and Bill Nighy, about the Robin Hood Tax, a tiny tax on bank transactions that could raise hundreds of billions for public services and to tackle poverty and climate change at home and around the world. Add your own voice to the campaign at http://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk
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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Ben Kingsley "mugged" for new Robin Hood tax - YouTube

Ben Kingsley "mugged" for new Robin Hood tax - YouTube:

"Ben Kingsley "mugged" for new Robin Hood tax"







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Labor Notes' Mark Brenner Takes on Fox News Over Occupy Wall Street - YouTube

Labor Notes' Mark Brenner Takes on Fox News Over Occupy Wall Street - YouTube:
 "Labor Notes' Mark Brenner Takes on Fox News Over Occupy Wall Street"


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Saturday, November 5, 2011

FairPoint trust suit blames Verizon for bankruptcy — Maine Business — Bangor Daily News

FairPoint trust suit blames Verizon for bankruptcy — Maine Business — Bangor Daily News:

 "FairPoint trust suit blames Verizon for bankruptcy
By Clarke Canfield, The Associated Press, The Associated Press
Posted Nov. 01, 2011, at 3:41 p.m.
Last modified Nov. 01, 2011, at 7 p.m."


PORTLAND, Maine — A litigation trust created for FairPoint Communications Inc. creditors is blaming Verizon Communications for FairPoint’s bankruptcy.
In a $2 billion fraudulent transfer lawsuit filed in North Carolina last week, the FairPoint litigation trust claims FairPoint went bankrupt because of its “disastrous” $2.3 billion purchase of Verizon’s land line and Internet operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2008. FairPoint filed for bankruptcy 18 months after the acquisition.
The complaint alleges that Verizon lured FairPoint into the deal and dealt it a bad hand, resulting in FairPoint buying “inferior assets that had no future.” FairPoint exhibited a blend of naivete and optimism on its part, but FairPoint executives felt trapped by the time they saw the writing on the wall, the suit alleges.
“The company had no chance given the hand it was dealt by Verizon,” the complaint reads.


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Occupy Oakland Night of the General Strike - YouTube

Occupy Oakland Night of the General Strike part 1 - YouTube:
 "Occupy Oakland Night of the General Strike part 1"









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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Indypendent » Labor Finds a Young Soulmate

The Indypendent » Labor Finds a Young Soulmate:

"In unions all across the United States — with a few exceptions — radical members and staffers have been waiting for Godot, dreaming of a moment when their leadership takes the membership away from the next contract or organizing battle and to a broader agenda of economic justice. "


As Fine points out, beginning these relationships is the hard part. Unions have rigid leadership structures and bylaws and must comply with strict federal and local regulations, and the bigger ones work with high-priced lobbyists and media consultants. It is hard to fuse that with something as leaderless and nebulous as OWS, but there’s been marked progress, she said. And there is also a faction in any union that believes the business of the union is settling and administering contracts, and that any other endeavor is a just a waste of dues money.n that regard, a better way to think about the role of unions in the Occupy Wall Street movement is to ask what OWS can offer the labor movement. Occupy Wall Street could inspire what remains of organized labor in this country to move away from just pushing  specific employers for modest wage gains and start organizing working-class people in order to shape not just industry standards, but a new economic order, as its frustrated radical factions have dreamt about.

“The labor movement has conditioned itself to only think of itself in legal terms. ‘What does the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] say about this or that?’” Fine said. “It has to get beyond that.”


To borrow a phrase from free market fans, OWS is about “creative destruction.” Old models for resisting corporate power have failed, and OWS is forming a new one. Maybe it is time for labor to shed its old skin and remake itself. Some of that is happening at Liberty Park when union members join the emerging movement., said OWS activist Harrison Magee. “They sort of drop that identity,” he said. “They become Occupy Wall Street and they become something new.”


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

CWA, Occupy D.C. Join for March for Jobs and Justice at Verizon | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

CWA, Occupy D.C. Join for March for Jobs and Justice at Verizon | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG:

"CWA, Occupy D.C. Join for March for Jobs and Justice at Verizon"

Occupy D.C. activists and union members are joining together on Wednesday in a march for jobs and a fair contract for workers at Verizon. The march and rally is a joint effort of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Occupy D.C. movement.
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The UAW's Grand New Bargain and the Future of Organized Labor - Jordan Weissmann - Business - The Atlantic

The UAW's Grand New Bargain and the Future of Organized Labor - Jordan Weissmann - Business - The Atlantic:

"On Oct. 26, the United Auto Workers ratified a new, four-year labor contract with Chrysler, capping off the union's negotiations with Detroit's three big automakers. There were no huge surprises in the agreements, but in light of Detroit's long history of labor dysfunction, the new contracts are a thing of wonder. Here are the new rules of the road: The unions' fortunes are tied to the companies' fortunes. If the companies profit, the workers profit. If the companies stumble, they can break the promises they can't afford"


Still, the union didn't come away empty-handed. Its big prizes included pledges by the three automakers to create or retain a combined 20,000 jobs in the United States and to invest roughly $13 billion into upgrading and retooling their American manufacturing plants. In the process, companies agreed to bring work back to the states from Mexico and China. Hourly workers also won signing bonuses worth several thousand dollars and profit-sharing plans worth as much as $12,000 a head. The union did agree to keep in place a controversial two-tiered wage system, put in place in 2007, that pays new hires significantly less than older workers, but it also convinced the companies to increase their entry-level wage to nearly $20 an hour, up from around $15.
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Occupy Oakland, police taking different approaches to public safety at upcoming strike - San Jose Mercury News

Occupy Oakland, police taking different approaches to public safety at upcoming strike - San Jose Mercury News:

"OAKLAND -- Thousands of people are expected on downtown streets Wednesday in the Occupy Oakland’s planned general strike and mass day of action, prompting a flurry of planning by police, transit agencies, labor unions and, of course, the Occupy organizers themselves."


Numerous labor unions have offered informal commitment to participate in the strike, including the umbrella organization called the Alameda Labor Council as well as unions representing longshoremen, teachers, nurses and the city’s civilian workers.
The board of the Oakland teachers union has endorsed the effort, encouraging its members to hold teach-ins Wednesday on the history of general strikes or to take personal leave to join the protesters. Betty Olson-Jones, the union president, said she didn't know how many people don’t plan to teach on Wednesda, but based on responses she received from an email blast about the general strike, "It could be up to several hundred."
Many of the participating teachers are expected to arrange for substitutes. Olson-Jones said the district has a pool of at least 300 subs, which could potentially stretch to about 500.
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