21 Airlines Fined for Fixing Passenger, Cargo Fees

AP Photo/Jacques Brinon





Mar 6, 1:22 AM EST
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the airline industry took a nose dive a decade ago, executives at global carriers scrambled to find a quick fix to avoid financial ruin.

What they came up with, according to federal prosecutors, was a massive price-fixing scheme among airlines that artificially inflated passenger and cargo fuel surcharges between 2000 and 2006 to make up for lost profits.

The airlines' crimes cost U.S. consumers and businesses - mostly international passengers and cargo shippers - hundreds of millions of dollars, prosecutors say.

But the airlines caught by the Justice Department have paid a hefty price in the five years since the government's widespread investigation became public.

To date, 19 executives have been charged with wrongdoing - four have gone to prison - and 21 airlines have coughed up more than $1.7 billion in fines in one of the largest criminal antitrust investigations in U.S. history.

The court cases reveal a complex web of schemes between mostly international carriers willing to fix fees in lockstep with competitors for flights to and from the United States.

Convicted airlines include British Airways, Korean Air, and Air France-KLM. No major U.S. carriers have been charged.

Michael Moore Rallies Wis. Pro-Union Protesters

AP Photo/Andy Manis

Mar 6, 4:30 AM EST
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore urged Wisconsin residents Saturday to fight against Republican efforts to strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights, telling thousands of protesters that "Madison is only the beginning."

The crowd roared in approval as Moore implored demonstrators to keep up their struggle against Republican Gov. Scott Walker's legislation, saying they've galvanized the nation against the wealthy elite and comparing their fight to Egypt's revolt. He also thanked the 14 state Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to block a vote on the bill, saying they'll go down in history books.

"We're going to do this together. Don't give up. Please don't give up," Moore told the protesters, who have swarmed the Capitol every day for close to three weeks.

Police said there were "tens of thousands" of protesters but didn't give a specific count. The vast majority of the crowd was pro-union, and no one was arrested or cited. Rallies drew huge crowds the previous two Saturdays, too: about 70,000 on Feb. 19, and an even larger one on Feb. 26.

Wisconsin Republicans Getting Nervous About Losing Senate Votes

by James Parks, Mar 4, 2011

Opponents of the right of public employees to bargain for middle-class jobs in Wisconsin are getting nervous that three Republican state senators may switch their votes and support public employees. Stephen Moore writes in the Wall Street Journal that with a 19-14 majority in the state Senate, Republicans cannot lose more than two votes if they want to ram through Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-worker agenda.

The pressure is building on the Republicans. Consider, 14 Democratic senators have been out of state since Feb. 17 and the public response to their action has been overwhelmingly positive.

Now a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that 62 percent of respondents oppose eliminating collective-bargaining rights for public-sector workers over health care, pensions or other benefits. And working people have launched recall efforts against eight of the GOP senators.

NFL Exec: We Are Committed to Collective Bargaining

by Tula Connell, Mar 4, 2011

This afternoon, the National Football League Players Association and managers extended the contract deadline for another seven days while negotiations continue.

After the extension was announced, Jeff Pash, executive vice president of labor for the National Football League and the chief negotiator for a $9 billion business said he backed the collective bargaining process.

…we are committed to collective bargaining. All over this country, collective bargaining is being challenged. We’re committed to it. We believe it can work. It has worked. We believe it will work across the country is being challenged and he supports the collectivel bargaining process.

Someone get Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the phone. Oh, the Koch brothers already did.…