July 9, 2015

USAF Secretary says long-range strike bomber decision imminent

WASHINGTON • The U.S. Air Force still aims to award a long-awaited contract for a new long-range strike bomber in August, but the decision could slip into September, Air Force Secretary Deborah James said Wednesday, adding it was crucial to "do it right."

Northrop Grumman Corp., maker of the B-2 bomber, is competing against team made up of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. for a contract that could be worth $50 billion to $80 billion to the winning bidder.

"The main thing is to do it right," James told Reuters in an interview. "We don't want to drag our feet but we don't want to rush because if you rush, you might not get it right."

The two teams are competing to build 80 to 100 new bombers for the Air Force at cost of no more than $550 million per aircraft, one of few new large-scale aircraft programs to kick off in recent years.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/usaf-secretary-says-long-range-strike-bomber-decision-imminent/article_d52dde77-95b6-5bd8-94e1-9e68bfa60cd1.html

July 9, 2015

To Survive, The Greeting Card Industry Will Have To Get Creative

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/08/420966617/to-survive-the-greeting-card-industry-will-have-to-get-creative

The greeting card industry is struggling to stay relevant in the digital age.

Hallmark has announced that it's closing its distribution center in Enfield, Conn., and cutting 570 jobs there, as it consolidates operations elsewhere.

For decades, the greeting card maker held a reputation as the type of company where good employees had a job for life.

Julie Elliott, Hallmark's PR director, says layoffs, like the ones announced this week, are especially painful.

July 9, 2015

Siblings thrown in juvie hall for refusing to see dad

Pontiac — An Oakland County judge who sent three children to a juvenile detention facility for failing to maintain a "healthy relationship" with their father calls the case one of the worst examples of parental alienation she's ever seen, according to court records.

Judge Lisa Gorcyca ordered the children — ages 9, 10 and 15 — to Children's Village on June 24 for civil contempt of court after they refused to have lunch with or talk to their father. The children's parents have been involved in a contentious divorce dispute since 2009.

The children's predicament spawned protests on social media, and a small rally of children and adults Wednesday at the Oakland County Courthouse.

According to a court transcript of the hearing, Gorcyca told the Bloomfield Hills family that "you need to do a research program on Charlie Manson and the cult that he has. Your behavior in the halls with me months ago, your behavior in court, your behavior back there is unlike any I've seen in 46,000 cases."

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2015/07/09/siblings-thrown-juvie-hall-refusing-see-dad/29898491/

July 9, 2015

Nixon orders local governments to allow same-sex marriage, while Brownback acts to curb them

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has issued an executive order mandating that state and local agencies comply with the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriages.

That order is aimed at places like Schuyler County, where county Recorder of Deeds Linda Blessing says she’s exploring options on whether she has to comply with the court’s action or Nixon’s order.

A.J. Bockelman, executive director of PROMO – the state’s largest gay-rights organization – said that Blessing had told one of his group’s volunteers, “This is against my conscience. I will not issue a license.”

Bockelman added that there’s at least one gay couple in Schuyler who wants to get married, but they are waiting to see whether Blessing backs down. The couple does not want to go public, he said.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/nixon-orders-local-governments-allow-same-sex-marriage-while-brownback-acts-curb-them

July 9, 2015

Ashcroft seeks 10,000 volunteers to get photo-ID proposal on the ballot

Jay Ashcroft, a Republican running for secretary of state in 2016, is pleased that the Missouri Secretary of State’s office has authorized him to circulate his initiative petition proposal to allow a photo ID requirement for voters.

Now, he just needs a bunch of volunteers to help out.

“I want to try to get 10,000 volunteers across the state,” Ashcroft said Wednesday in a press conference at the Brentwood Library. “And if I do that, then everybody has to get 30 signatures: a couple of houses next to you in your neighborhood. A couple of people in your church, your synagogue, your mosque or wherever you worship. And then a couple of family members, and you’re done.”

So far, Ashcroft estimates that he’s acquired about 1,000 helpers.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ashcroft-seeks-10000-volunteers-get-photo-id-proposal-ballot

These guys just never give up on voter suppression....

July 9, 2015

Rauner, unions vow to appeal ruling limiting state worker paychecks

Dealing a blow to Gov. Bruce Rauner's pledge to keep public worker paychecks flowing while state government limps along without a budget, a Cook County judge ruled Tuesday that state employees must be paid only federal minimum wage while the broader political battle at the Capitol plays out.

The ruling may not be the final word on the fate of state worker pay, however. The Rauner administration, the comptroller's office and the state's largest public employee union quickly appealed the decision. Comptroller Leslie Munger has said her office can't even process the smaller paychecks in time, given the complexity of the payroll systems. And state lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Wednesday as Democrats try to approve a one-month emergency services budget that would pay some, but not all, state workers.

The court action came as the state prepared to enter a second week without a budget for the financial year that began July 1. Rauner vetoed much of the spending plan lawmakers sent to him last month and has continued to insist that ruling Democrats in the General Assembly take up his pro-business, anti-union legislative agenda before a budget deal can be reached.

The rookie Republican governor tried to minimize the lack of a budget by assuring state workers they would be paid in full and ordering them to continue reporting to work. But Democratic Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the state doesn't have the spending authority to make the payments and took the question to court. Madigan is the daughter of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is leading the resistance to Rauner's legislative agenda.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-budget-court-20150707-story.html#page=1

July 9, 2015

Unions move to sink GOP port bills

The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) said Monday that a pair of Republican measures to reduce the potential for strikes at U.S. ports are "unnecessary" interventions into labor relations at the nation's docks.

The measures, from Sens. Cory Gardiner (R-Colo.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), would expand the ability of governors to intervene in port labor disputes and require greater port tracking by the Department of Transportation, respectively.

The AFL-CIO TTD, which represents more than 30 transportation-related unions, said Monday that the measures are overreaches by Republicans in reaction to a standoff at West Coast ports earlier this year that resulted in a temporary shutdown of nearly 30 ports in February.

"[Sen.] Gardner and his allies claim that this bill is needed to prevent labor-management disputes from interfering with port operations," the group wrote in a blog post of Colorado senator's Protecting Orderly and Responsible Transit of Shipments (PORTS) Act.

http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/246965-unions-criticize-gop-port-bills

July 9, 2015

NBA union reportedly proposing to use TV revenue to help ex-players

The National Basketball Players Association will propose a plan to its members that will designate millions of dollars from the NBA's impending television revenue to aid former players' health insurance costs, Yahoo Sports/FOX Sports 1 NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported.

The proposal will cost the union between $10 million and $15 million a year and will be voted on during the NBPA's July 20 membership meeting in Las Vegas, according to the report. The plan reportedly is expected to pass without any resistance.

Executive director Michele Roberts, director of player relations Roger Mason and the NBPA's executive committee were moved by stories of former players who couldn't afford basic medical care, according to the report. If the plan passes, the NBPA reportedly is hoping to offer three health-care options to the approximately 1,500 living ex-players.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/nba-players-union-tv-revenue-to-help-ex-players-health-care-070715

July 9, 2015

US faculty unions under threat

The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case that could in effect make union membership dues optional for public employees.

Currently, the norm for faculty unions in the US is that if they win a vote to represent a bargaining unit, all members of that unit must pay for the costs of collective bargaining in the form of dues.

The vast majority of faculty members who are represented by unions are in public higher education, and such a shift could be devastating to the financing of their unions, Inside Higher Ed reported.

Members of a unit who object to political stances of a union may get a refund for those expenses, but they are still required to pay what is known as a “fair share” of union costs that are related to bargaining and representation. That requirement could go away, depending on how the Supreme Court rules.

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/us-faculty-unions-under-threat

July 9, 2015

UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/retail-financia

http://supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/ufcw-local-sets-meeting-discuss-ap-future

Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia.

In a posting on the local’s website, Wendell W. Young IV, president, said, “It is with regret I must report we are truly uncertain what will happen next,” despite several meetings with A&P representatives.

“Through this uncertainty, please know we are going to do everything we possibly can to save your job. As we have already witnessed, there are many rumors circulating. Please be careful to consider the source and understand some things may be true while others may not.”

Industry observers said any action by A&P, Montvale, N.J., could potentially affect 30,000 employees.