W.V. Senator Vows to Shut Down Government as 16,000 Miners Lose Health Care Benefits

“I have never believed partisan gridlock is a way to accomplish our policy goals, so I haven’t come to this decision easily,” said Manchin on the Senate floor yesterday in explaining why he would filibuster the spending bill. “My reason for doing this is that over two years ago we promised the retired coal miners of America—we promised them—mostly their families, and there are a lot of widows now; we promised them they would have their health care benefits that were guaranteed to them and their pensions.”


Deadly Chattanooga School Bus Company Paying Legal Bills of Bus Driver

Legal experts speculate that the decision for Durham to pay for Walker’s defense stems from their decision to clear their own legal liability. Already, three lawsuits have been filed against Durham accusing the firm of negligence in employing Walker. If Durham can help Walker beat legal charges then it makes it easier for the company to prove in later civil cases that it is not at fault.


Atlanta Cops Spy on Fight for $15 – Privatized Buses Lead to 62% More Accidents – Trumka Bucks Obama on DNC Chair – Louisville Cafeteria Workers Unionize

“The Atlanta Police Dept. sent a detective to surveil Fight for $15 organizers meeting today at our union hall,” wrote Teamsters Local 728 Organizing Director on Facebook. “Guy sat in his car in our parking lot watching fast food and airport workers prep for actions this afternoon and evening. Unreal.”


Exclusive: Tennessee State Senator Calls for Hearings on School Bus Privatization

“We have to ensure that their pay and working conditions are good enough that we get decent, qualified, focused people who can be entrusted with our children’s safety” says Yarbro “It’s hard to imagine any function more public than the school bus picking up and dropping off our children each day. There must be public accountability so that we make sure something like this never happens again”.


Overwork Cited in Tenn. Bus Deaths – Trump Ag Advisor Reverses on Deportations – Louisville GE Offering $12 An Hour

Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that the bus driver, Johnthony Walker, that in addition to his duties as a bus driver that Walker also worked the graveyard shift. Starting wages for bus drivers at Durham in Chattanooga are only $13.30 an hour and in order to provide for his three-year-old daughter, the 24-year-old Walker routinely worked from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M. at Amazon’s warehouse several nights a week.


Deadly Chattanooga School Bus Company Has Long History of Worker Intimidation & Safety Violations

Many drivers say that the lack of training for school bus drivers employed by Durham and the low pay that makes it difficult to attract more skilled drivers. According to the wage tracking site GlassDoor.com, Durham School Services pays bus drivers on average only $14.92 an hour with many bus drivers being forced to take seasonal jobs, when school is out of session. Indeed, Genevere Walker, the mother of Jonnthony Walker, told CNN that her son was forced to work two jobs in order to make ends meet.


Trump Could Bust Louisville UPS Strike – S.C. Boeing Union Election Nears – Hoffa Narrowly Leads Zuckerman – D.C. Grocery Workers Avert Strike

“We’re glad that UPS can afford to invest in beefing up its international fleet,” said Jim Kelley, an aircraft mechanic at UPS’s Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky in a press release. “But if UPS can afford major capital investments and huge raises for top brass, then UPS can also choose to invest in the maintenance workers who do strenuous and dangerous work every day to make its success possible”