Labor & Economic News Blog


Tuesday, January 30, 2007

F.A.A. Review Is Expected on Pilots’ Age at Retirement

F.A.A. Review Is Expected on Pilots’ Age at Retirement
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Airlines and pilots’ unions expect a review of a rule requiring pilots to retire at age 60, now that an international organization has raised the age to 65.

 

As Airlines Surge, Pilots Want Share

As Airlines Surge, Pilots Want Share
By JEFF BAILEY
With most of the industry returning to profitability, pilots are demanding that they should recoup some of the pay and other benefits they gave up in recent years.

 

CSU faculty rejects offer, plans informational picket

CSU faculty rejects offer, plans informational picket
By Tanya Schevitz
The union representing California State University faculty members, who will set up an informational picket line at San Jose State on Wednesday, has rejected the university's offer of a 24.5 percent salary increase over the next four years. Union...

 

Aerospace tax break may rest on union neutrality

Aerospace tax break may rest on union neutrality
In Business & Technology
A powerful group of Democratic lawmakers on Monday introduced bills in the House and Senate that would tie new strings to a multi-billion-dollar...

 

Genentech vendor draws union action / Hospitality workers' campaign targets Redwood City company -- calls for a code of conduct

Genentech vendor draws union action / Hospitality workers' campaign targets Redwood City company -- calls for a code of conduct
By George Raine
The union representing hotel workers is asking local high-tech and biotechnology companies to improve working conditions for their contract food service workers. Unite Here, which represents 440,000 workers in the hospitality industry and other...

 

Monday, January 29, 2007

Pay, pension issues at heart of Metal-Matic strike

Pay, pension issues at heart of Metal-Matic strike
In StarTribune.com Business
Teamsters Local 970 today begins its eighth day of a strike against two Metal-Matic Inc. plants in north Minneapolis. Management has proposed to freeze union members' pensions and award lower pay raises than the union is seeking. Managers said high health care costs prompted the proposed changes. Union officials could not be reached Friday for comment. Metal-Matic, which makes carbon steel tubing for the automotive, appliance and construction industries, has 320 union workers on strike. About 90 salaried workers and managers are running the two factories on 2nd Avenue and Humboldt Avenue N.

 

ResCap to cut 1,000 jobs from national workforce

ResCap to cut 1,000 jobs from national workforce
In StarTribune.com Business
Bloomington-based Residential Capital, one of the nation's 10 largest mortgage companies, will reduce its workforce by 1,000 positions during the next several months, reflecting a downturn in the housing industry, the company said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The cuts represent about 7 percent of the firm's 14,000 U.S. workers and includes 200 vacancies that will not be filled. Stephen Dupont, a spokesman for the company, said fewer than 50 of the 1,900 Twin Cities headquarters and operations jobs will be eliminated.

 

Employees' money issues soon become employers'

Employees' money issues soon become employers'
In StarTribune.com Business
Stephen Robinson would like to believe that working people can leave their money problems at home, but he knows better from personal experience. Robinson, interim services director at the Minneapolis Urban League, got himself in serious credit card trouble when he was a young man. The stress distracted him from his work, and a garnished paycheck brought his troubles directly to his employer. "Then you're walking around with the added burden of thinking, 'There's someone in this organization who knows about my problem,' " he said.

 

Companies Create Their Own Health Clinics

Companies Create Their Own Health Clinics
NPR audio:
More and more U.S. companies are providing in-house health clinics for their employees as a way to contain medical costs. The on-site clinics can offer flu shots, fill prescriptions and other services -- it's a convenience for employees and a money-saver for the company.

 

Suit Maker Goes 'Lean' to Keep Jobs in U.S.

Suit Maker Goes 'Lean' to Keep Jobs in U.S.
NPR audio:
Suit maker Joseph Abboud's products are still "made in America." The company has kept its Massachusetts factory, asking unionized employees to take a flexible, "lean" team approach to their jobs.

 

Dream Job Elusive for Most, Survey Finds

Dream Job Elusive for Most, Survey Finds
NPR audio:
A survey of 6,000 fulltime workers, taken by the online job site CareerBuilder.com and The Walt Disney Company, finds that four out of five people say they are not in their dream job. On the positive side, police and firefighters are most likely to say they've got the ideal job, followed by teachers and real estate professionals.

 

The Dispute over Security Screeners and Unions

The Dispute over Security Screeners and Unions
NPR audio:
The new Democratic congressional majority is trying to give federal airport screeners the right to collective bargaining. Some screeners say they are subject to favoritism and other abuses, and need a union to stand up for them. The Transportation Safety Administration says it needs to be flexible in staffing.

 

Projects squeeze NW Indiana labor pool

Projects squeeze NW Ind. labor pool
GARY, Ind. -- Construction projects in Northwest Indiana are expected to create some 5,000 jobs over the next five years, but many of the workers likely won't come from the region.

 

Are Americans saving too much for their retirement?

Are Americans saving too much for their retirement?
A small band of economists from universities, research institutions and the government are saying many Americans could be saving less - and spending more - while they are younger.

 

California bat maker shifts its production to China

California bat maker shifts its production to China
An icon of Little League fields across America is taking its bat manufacturing business to China, cutting 250 jobs in Southern California in the process.

 

Target settles race-bias suit

Target settles race-bias suit
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. agreed Friday to pay $775,000 to a group of black store workers in Pennsylvania to settle a race-discrimination and retaliation case.

 

Health care expected to lead in job growth

Health care expected to lead in job growth
If you're a plumber, now would be a good time to go back to school for that medical degree. Jobs in health care will be the fastest growing this year while anything related to the housing industry is going in the tank, so to speak. As new home construction falls, that will have a drag on the economy for most of the year, according to a short-term forecast from the state Department of Employment and Economic Development.

 

Andersen workers to get profit-sharing of 22 percent

Andersen workers to get profit-sharing of 22 percent
Andersen Corp. employees will receive annual profit-sharing checks equal to 22 percent of their 2006 salaries, workers were told today.

 

Illinois: Grant to boost minorities in trades

Grant to boost minorities in trades
The state will make $6 million in work-force development grants available to help expand employment opportunities for minorities and other under-represented populations in the building and construction trades, Gov. Blagojevich will announce today.

 

Georgia minimum wage hike proposed

Ga. minimum wage hike proposed
Minimum wage workers in Georgia could see their first pay raise in a decade, under a bill introduced today in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 13 would increase minimum wage in the state from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. The 41-percent jump would occur in two steps, putting $7.25 an hour in workers' paychecks by Jan. 1. The bill, introduced by Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, was assigned to the Insurance and Labor Committee. It's likely to face opposition in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

 

Coke's main bottler planning job cuts, experts say

Coke's main bottler planning job cuts, experts say
Coca-Cola Enterprises is preparing to eliminate more than 1,000 jobs as it wrestles with escalating materials costs and sliding soft drink sales in North America, beverage industry experts say. Atlanta-based CCE, the world's largest soft drink bottler, could cut as many as 3,000 workers from its North American force of 65,000, according to Morgan Stanley beverage analyst Bill Pecoriello. And John Sicher, publisher of industry newsletter Beverage Digest, reported that cuts will likely be in the "4-digit range."

 

Home Depot swings into spring hiring season

Home Depot swings into spring hiring season
Home Depot's plan to create 15,000 new positions this year at stores nationwide fits a pattern. The Atlanta-based retailer added about the same number last year, on top of 20,000 in 2005, company spokesman Tony Wilbert said Monday. The new positions are in addition to hiring about 50,000 people to fill existing jobs that come open during the year.

 

Britain: Call to drop dispute procedures

Call to drop dispute procedures
In Business
The government is urged to abandon dispute resolution procedures for employers and their staff.

 

Union calls off BA strike action

Union calls off British Airways strike action
In Business
A planned two-day strike by thousands of British Airways cabin crew has been called off after last-minute talks.

 

Wal-Mart to pay $33m in wage case

Wal-Mart to pay $33m in wage case
By Bloomberg News
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the largest US private employer, will pay $33 million in back wages plus interest under an agreement with the Labor Department.

 

Talks planned to avert British Airways strike

Talks planned to avert British Airways strike
By Associated Press
LONDON -- Last-minute talks aimed at averting a 48-hour strike by thousands of British Airways PLC cabin crew members will continue today after unions were unable to reach an agreement in weekend talks.

 

Jobless claims up sharply

Jobless claims up sharply
Thursday January 25, 2007
Benefits applications up by largest amount in 16 months The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits shot up last week by the largest amount in 16 months, reversing two weeks of big declines.

 

Telecommuting can create dilemmas

Telecommuting can create dilemmas
Flexible schedules may limit ability to advance in career, survey suggests As much as we want flexibility in our jobs, we seem to be burdened by our own doubts. Would I appear less committed? How would it affect my career? What would my colleagues think?

 

Job prospects bright for class of '07

Job prospects bright for class of '07
Survey indicates recruitment surge, higher salaries and signing bonuses Employers are diving back into the fountain of youth.

 

Wage plan threatens Cerberus' Delphi deal

Wage plan threatens Cerberus' Delphi deal
Cerberus Capital Management LP might drop a planned $3.4 billion investment in troubled auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp. because the United Auto Workers union is resisting Cerberus' proposals for pay cuts, three people familiar with the situation said Friday.

 

Hiring quality workers poses stiff challenge

Hiring quality workers poses stiff challenge
At fast-growing Paylocity in Elk Grove Village, recruiting manager Angela Goodwin is eager to fill 23 positions. But she won't sacrifice a thorough screening to get the jobs filled faster.

 

Putting health rates on a budget

Putting health rates on a budget
New plans limit firms' expense, but workers face far higher costs After years of double-digit premium increases for employers providing health plans to workers, insurers are trying a different approach: new plans that cap premium hikes at guaranteed low rates if buyers agree to a multiyear contract and workers absorb huge increases in deductibles.

 

Motorola to cut off 3,500 jobs

Motorola to cut off 3,500 jobs
Executives concede premium phones are key to recovery Lopping 3,500 jobs--that will be the easy part for Motorola Inc. as it tries to regain lost momentum.

 

Working in retirement a constant for the ages

Working in retirement a constant for the ages
The popular notion that Baby Boomers are going to change the face of retirement, by working longer for money and enjoyment, might not be true.

 

Union membership drops to 12 percent

Union membership drops to 12 percent
AP - The number of wage and salary workers who were union members dropped to 12 percent of the work force last year, the lowest percentage since the government started tracking that number over two decades ago.

 

Planned media job cuts up 88 pct in 2006

Planned media job cuts up 88 pct in 2006
Reuters - The number of planned job cuts in the U.S. media sector surged 88 percent last year and that trend will likely continue as readers shift from print to online services, a study on Thursday showed.

 

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Time Inc. Lays Off Nearly 300

Time Inc. Lays Off Nearly 300
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
The cuts come as Time Inc. seeks to expand its presence on on the Web, where the company sees its future.

 

World Business Briefing: U.S. to Renegotiate Labor Rights

World Business Briefing: U.S. to Renegotiate Labor Rights
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Bush administration said it would renegotiate the language covering labor rights in free trade agreements it has reached with Peru, Colombia and Panama, in order for the new Democratic Congress to approve the deals. John K. Veroneau, deputy United States trade representative, said that the three countries had been notified and predicted that an agreement on revised language could be reached without a lengthy delay. The announcement was the strongest signal to date that the administration was prepared to modify its trade policies in light of Democratic control of the House and Senate. Democrats, backed by American labor unions, have long complained that the free trade deals negotiated by the administration do not include enough protections for American workers.

 

San Francisco Orders Paid Sick Leave for All

San Francisco Orders Paid Sick Leave for All
NPR audio:
San Francisco will become the first city in the United States to require that all employers provide paid sick leave. Labor groups hope the new law will serve as an example. Many small-business owners say they can't afford the mandate.

 

'Marketplace' Report: Wal-Mart and Health Care

'Marketplace' Report: Wal-Mart and Health Care
NPR audio:
Wal-Mart will not be forced to pay more for employee health care in Maryland. A U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday that a state law requiring the company to increase health care spending violated federal law. The case could have implications for other states.

 

California's Laborers Hit by Crop Freeze

California's Laborers Hit by Crop Freeze
NPR audio:
The freeze that numbed California over the weekend and earlier this week appears to be easing, but the damage is done. Citrus farmers are cataloging their losses, many workers have already been laid off, and social service agencies are bracing for a rush of unemployed farm workers.

 

Health workers priced out of housing

Health workers priced out of housing
Health-care workers are being priced out of the U.S. housing market in most major U.S. metropolitan areas.

 

Job cuts at Motorola?

Job cuts at Motorola?
So, will Motorola Inc. unveil plans Friday to shed jobs in order to make up for a sudden and dramatic drop in profitability?

 

Globalized economy a double-edged sword for Americans

Globalized economy a double-edged sword for Americans
The recent increase of foreign investment and trade has proved a mixed blessing for the United States, adding dramatically to growth and wealth but also acting as a wedge to widen the gap between the richest Americans and the rest of us. That is because a globalized economy produces opposite effects at top and bottom of the economic scale, said Robert Reich, former labor secretary and now professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. "Someone who's well-educated in the U.S. now has a global market for his or her services — and is a scarce and valued asset in that global market," he said. "But someone who lacks skills is now competing with millions of others around the world who are similarly situated and in abundant supply."

 

Delta pilots seek seat at D.C. merger hearing

Delta pilots seek seat at D.C. merger hearing
Delta Air Lines' pilots union is angling to put its objections to US Airways' hostile takeover bid in the national spotlight next week at a Senate hearing on airline mergers. Lee Moak, chairman of the Delta unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, said Thursday that the union has asked to testify on the at the Senate commerce committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday. "We're trying to be heard," said Moak. "We're determined. We're resolute. We're not leaving this to chance. ...We will not stop until this [deal] is dead.'

 

Settlement reached in EEOC case

Settlement reached in EEOC case
A former clerical worker at Research Medical Center who requested but didn’t receive accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act is set to receive $60,000 in emotional distress compensation.

 

Take a look behind bad attitudes

Take a look behind bad attitudes
The evolution to a service economy has produced an evolution in employee evaluation. Most are appraised, at least in part, according to characteristics that are not easily quantified.

 

Icy blow to farmhands' pay

Icy blow to farmhands' pay
Calif. governor seeks federal aid as frozen citrus groves put thousands out of work The deep freeze that has destroyed some $1 billion worth of California citrus could also mean months of unemployment for thousands of farmworkers, packers and truck drivers during what is already a lean season for those who work in agriculture, industry officials say.

 

Wal-mart law loses again

Wal-mart law loses again
U.S. appeals court upholds earlier ruling; Assembly seeks solution Maryland's first-in-the-nation law to compel Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care suffered another setback yesterday, providing fresh incentive for legislative leaders in Annapolis to explore ways to boost insurance coverage that do not involve the retailing giant.

 

Washington state annual jobless rate lowest since 1999

Annual jobless rate lowest since 1999
Washington last month capped a robust year with more healthy job numbers, posting a seasonally adjusted 5 percent unemployment rate unchanged from November and adding 3,300 seasonally adjusted jobs.

 

Baby, it's cold outside, and I still have to go to work

Baby, it's cold outside, and I still have to go to work
As the first flakes drift past the Space Needle, the children listen avidly to school-closing reports in hopes of a day full of snowball fights and snow angels. But what about grown-ups? Do they get snow days, too?

 

Bernanke warns of looming US budget crisis (AFP)

Bernanke warns of looming US budget crisis (AFP)
AFP - The US economy could be "seriously weakened" by budget strains if the government fails to address the deficits expected from the retiring baby-boom generation, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned.

 

Jobless claims fall to 11-month low (AP)

Jobless claims fall to 11-month low (AP)
AP - The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in 11 months, indicating a solid labor market at the beginning of the year.

 

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Study: City, suburbs not getting fair share of subsidies

Study: City, suburbs not getting fair share of subsidies
Economic development subsidies handed out to companies have "shortchanged" Chicago and nearby suburbs, prompting job sprawl and greater inequality in the region, according to a study released today by a subsidy watchdog group.

 

Court won't hear IBM pension case

Court won't hear IBM pension case
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider an appeal brought by a group of IBM Corp. employees who accused the company of age discrimination when it altered its pension plan. The lawsuit could have cost the company $1.4 billion.

 

Providers in pinch on health reform

Providers in pinch on health reform
By Jeffrey Krasner, Boston Globe Staff
The providers say they are bracing for substantial increases in their healthcare costs, as more of their employees comply with the reform law by signing up for insurance already offered by the small, nonprofit organizations.

 

Minnosota's Job gains expected to slow in 2007

Job gains expected to slow in 2007
Minnesota added 54,500 jobs to its economy last year, its strongest job growth in seven years. But don't get used to it. Growth is expected to be tougher to come by in 2007 as employers tamp down hiring.

 

Cultivating city's biotech workers

Cultivating city's biotech workers
BioTechnical Institute's graduates join the state's sciences work force The graduates wore no caps, no gowns. And few, if any, had parents in the sparse audience. More likely, their own children, some grown and towing the occasional grandchild, filled the seats.

 

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Poor management and cost-cutting created a dangerous work environment at BP, according to a new report

Poor management and cost-cutting created a dangerous work environment at BP, according to a new report
Source: NY Times
The 374-page report, the culmination of an investigation headed by a former American secretary of state, James A. Baker III, paints a layered picture of neglect, avoidance and wrong-headed corporate directives that resulted in the death of 15 workers.

 

Philadelphia newspaper owner pledges response to diversity complaints

Philadelphia newspaper owner pledges response to diversity complaints
In StarTribune.com Business
PHILADELPHIA -- The owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News has pledged to create a new diversity committee in response to complaints that recent Inquirer newsroom layoffs disproportionately affected minorities. Seven minority employees met with management on Tuesday and the papers' owner, Philadelphia Media Holdings, pledged to create the committee that will explore ways to hire more minority journalists, said Melanie Burney, an education reporter at the Inquirer and an executive board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

 

Washington State's Unemployment steady in December

Unemployment steady in December
The state's unemployment rate remained at 5 percent in December.

 

Zimbabwe: Rural Health Personnel Join Stayaway

Zimbabwe: Rural Health Personnel Join Stayaway
Zimbabwe's public health delivery system has ground to a halt as nurses and doctors in rural areas join their urban counterparts in a stayaway over low salaries and poor working conditions.

 

Goodyear must pay past female applicants $925,000

Goodyear must pay past female applicants $925,000
A Labor Department lawsuit alleged that from January 1998 to June 1999, Goodyear discriminated against hundreds of female applicants for entry-level positions on the basis of gender.

 

Houston janitors await their raises from contract deal

Houston janitors await their raises from contract deal
When the SEIU asked Houston janitors to go on strike in October, Julia Quintero put down her broom and marched in the streets. Like many of Houston's 5,300 janitors, Quintero was jubilant when she learned that the Service Employees International Union and the five large cleaning companies, including the one she works for, had reached a tentative deal on a three-year contract.

 

Women changing work, not leaving

Women changing work, not leaving
Headlines suggest women are abandoning careers in droves, most often to stay home with children.

 

Mexico launches jobs program

Mexico launches jobs program
MEXICO CITY - President Felipe Calderon launched a program Monday to create jobs for young Mexicans and curb the flow of millions of migrants to the United States.

 

UAW prepares for sacrifices

UAW prepares for sacrifices
DETROIT - The message coming down from the Union Auto Workers' top ranks as it prepares for this year's contract talks is not the hard-line rhetoric of the past.

 

Workers walk out

Workers walk out
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Some workers at a massive Smithfield Foods Inc. hog slaughtering plant missed the first shift Monday to protest a company decision not to give them the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a paid day off.

 

Firings foment union decline

Firings foment union decline
A study released earlier this month supports what union leaders have said for years: Since the 1980s, employers increasingly have used aggressive and sometimes illegal tactics during organizing campaigns to halt membership drives.

 

Job market picks up for MBA graduates / East Coast students find opportunity in West

Job market picks up for MBA graduates / East Coast students find opportunity in West
By Carolyn Said
They carry stacks of resumes, wear sober suits and keep their cell phones and laptops perpetually at hand. They are primed with thoughtful answers for any question. Now they're descending on the Bay Area in an annual quest for summer internships and full-time...

 

Oreck moves vacuum plant to Tennessee

Oreck moves vacuum plant to Tennessee
Ten days after Hurricane Katrina tore through town, the Oreck Corp. reopened the storm-damaged plant where it assembled its widely advertised vacuum cleaners. It hauled in generators to make electricity, imported trailers to house its workers and was hailed...

 

Friday, January 05, 2007

Delta pilot pension plan grounded for good

Delta pilot pension plan grounded for good
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said Friday it has formally taken over the pilots' pension plan at Delta Air Lines, and it expects to be responsible for paying out close to $1 billion in benefits not covered by the plan's assets. The move was approved by Delta's bankruptcy judge and the PBGC last year. It represents the sixth-largest pension liability the PBGC has taken on in its 32-year history, the PBGC said. The quasi-federal agency said the Delta pilots' plan is under-funded by about $3 billion, with $4.7 billion in obligations and $1.7 billion in assets. But because the PBGC only guarantees workers' pension incomes up to certain limits, the agency estimated that it will be liable for about $920 million.

 

Hiring, wages up strongly in December (AP)

Hiring, wages up strongly in December (AP)
AP - Ending 2006 on a positive note, employers boosted hiring and fattened workers' paychecks in December, capping a year in which the country's unemployment rate averaged a six-year low of 4.6 percent.

 

The problem with CEO pay

The problem with CEO pay
Charles Munger says too many executives are paid too much for doing too little. With an annual salary of $100,000, Charles T. Munger is hardly your typical big-company chief executive. But he doesn't exactly need the money.

 

Truck drivers deplore port fee

Truck drivers deplore port fee
Security measures require paying for multiple credentialsThe nation's truckers undergo federal background checks and must pay for separate licenses to haul materials for the U.S. Defense and Energy departments, to drive across the border and to carry hazardous materials. And come March, if they pick up goods at a seaport, they must obtain another credential that may cost nearly $160, according to rules announced this week.

 

Thursday, January 04, 2007

State's children less likely to succeed / California 34th in nation in study of criteria that help identify chances to excel

State's children less likely to succeed / California 34th in nation in study of criteria that help identify chances to excel
By Nanette Asimov
Children growing up in California, fabled land of opportunity, have a worse chance of achieving the American Dream than children in most other states, a new study says. The real Golden State is Virginia, where children are most likely to become well-...

 

State's children less likely to succeed / California 34th in nation in study of criteria that help identify chances to excel

State's children less likely to succeed / California 34th in nation in study of criteria that help identify chances to excel
By Nanette Asimov
Children growing up in California, fabled land of opportunity, have a worse chance of achieving the American Dream than children in most other states, a new study says. The real Golden State is Virginia, where children are most likely to become well-...

 

SAN FRANCISCO / Teacher fired; accused school of censorship / He'd complained about confiscated student magazine

SAN FRANCISCO / Teacher fired; accused school of censorship / He'd complained about confiscated student magazine
By Tanya Schevitz
A part-time instructor at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco has been fired after he objected to the administration's confiscation of a magazine that students produced as a final project for his course in cultural studies. Robert Ovetz was...

 

Irony: Jobster cuts 60 jobs

Irony: Jobster cuts 60 jobs
Online job-search service Jobster will lay off 60 people, or 41 percent of its work force.

 

World Business Briefing: France: Airline Sues Over Labor Taxes

World Business Briefing: France: Airline Sues Over Labor Taxes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ryanair Holdings, the discount airline, announced a lawsuit against the French government, arguing that newly imposed labor taxes were illegally hampering its operations. Ryanair, which is based in Dublin, said it had also petitioned European Union competition authorities in Brussels in hopes of overturning the application of French tax and labor standards to Ryanair employees based in France. Jim Callaghan, Ryanair’s director of regulatory affairs, said France “tries to force foreign airlines to apply French labor laws when they base aircraft in France,” in violation of European labor laws. Ryanair, the fastest-growing airline in Europe, is the second European airline to challenge the taxes. A British budget airline, easyJet, sued over the taxes last month.

 

Indiana Chamber opposes minimum wage hike

Chamber opposes minimum wage hike
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce opposes multiple bills filed in the Indiana General Assembly that would raise the state's minimum wage, some to as high as $9 per hour by 2009.

 

Indiana tops in jobless claims growth

Indiana tops in jobless claims growth
Indiana led the nation last week in the increase of unemployment claims, as the number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits shot up across the nation.

 

Immigrants drive tech startups

Immigrants drive tech startups
SAN FRANCISCO - Foreign-born entrepreneurs were behind one in four U.S. technology startups over the past decade, according to a study to be published today.

 

Pioneer Press lays off 9 workers

Pioneer Press lays off 9 workers
The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off nine workers on Tuesday, a move that followed a union decision in December to reject a company plan to restructure an employee pension plan.

 

Returning auto workers help push Kansas City jobless rate down to 4.8 percent

Returning auto workers help push KC jobless rate down to 4.8 percent
About 4,000 more workers were on Kansas City area payrolls in November than in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

 

Paying for Protection

Paying for Protection
The AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers sought financial relief Wednesday for workers who paid for their own protective clothing, lifelines, face shields, gloves and other equipment.

 

At Work: Survive change at job

Survive change at job
Take large cash reserves and relatively low interest rates, stir them together in a financial stew, and, voila: You get a liberal serving of mergers and acquisitions.

 

Employment in Kansas City on the rise

Employment in KC on the rise
About 4,000 more workers were on Kansas City area payrolls in November than in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

 

Wal-Mart to schedule workers based on traffic

Wal-Mart to schedule workers based on traffic
By Bloomberg News
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the largest private U S employer, is rolling out software that will allow the company to schedule workers based on the number of customers in stores.

 

Haberdasher times retirement right

Haberdasher times retirement right
By Tom Long, Globe Correspondent
Retirement fits Stuart Shaines like a well-tailored suit. "You only get one chance in a life to go out of business, and I want to do it right," said Shaines, who is retiring after a half century in menswear.

 

Judge backs ruling in favor of fired MassMutual chief

Judge backs ruling in favor of fired MassMutual chief
By Ross Kerber, Globe Staff
A Superior Court judge upheld a finding that MassMutual Financial Group unjustly fired chief executive Robert J. O'Connell in 2005 and should pay him termination benefits his lawyers put at $50 million.

 

Embattled CEO leaves job with $210 million

Embattled CEO leaves job with $210 million
Home Depot chief had drawn watchdogs' criticism for high payCorporate pay critics were prepared to cheer the abrupt departure of embattled Home Depot Inc. chief Robert Nardelli yesterday - but then they got a look at the bill.

 

Background checks at port

Background checks at port
TSA requires waterfront workers' reviews, purchase of ID cards. About 750,000 truckers, longshoremen and others who work at the nation's ports - including about 20,000 at the port of Baltimore - will face background checks and be required to buy identification cards beginning in March, according to long-awaited rules released yesterday by the Transportation Security Administration.

 

Marriott to settle suit over minimum wage / $1.35 million to pay workers at 3 S.F. hotels and legal fees

Marriott to settle suit over minimum wage / $1.35 million to pay workers at 3 S.F. hotels and legal fees
By Bob Egelko
Marriott Corp. has agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a class-action suit accusing the company of violating San Francisco's minimum-wage ordinance for some employees at its three hotels in the city, both sides in the case said this week. The...

 

Jobless claims inched up last week (Reuters)

Jobless claims inched up last week (Reuters)
Reuters - The number of workers applying for initial jobless benefits exceeded market expectations by edging up 10,000 to 329,000 in the week ended December 30, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday that showed a stable job market.

 

Services sector slows, factory orders disappoint (Reuters)

Services sector slows, factory orders disappoint (Reuters)
Reuters - Growth in the U.S. services sector slowed in December, following a less-than-expected rise in factory orders the previous month, reports showed on Thursday, pointing to a slackening economy.

 

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Tillie Olsen -- labor activist, author of 'Tell Me a Riddle'

Tillie Olsen -- labor activist, author of 'Tell Me a Riddle'
By Heidi Benson
Author and activist Tillie Olsen, whose landmark book of short stories, "Tell Me a Riddle," depicted the lives of working-class women, died of complications of Alzheimer's disease Monday in Oakland. She was 94. Though she wrote just two other books, "...

 

New jobs, investments in Central Indiana up 40% from '05

New jobs, investments in Central Indiana up 40% from '05
The Indy Partnership said new jobs and investments increased about 40 percent last year from 2005 levels.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer lays off 71 in newsroom

Philadelphia Inquirer lays off 71 in newsroom
Layoff notices were given today to 71 newsroom employees at The Philadelphia Inquirer, about 17 percent of the paper's editorial staff, as it grapples with sharp declines in circulation and advertising revenue, union officials said.

 

Janitors union sets strike vote

Janitors union sets strike vote
Following a breakdown in talks, leaders for the union representing janitors who clean the major office buildings in the Twin Cities plan to spend the next 10 days convincing their members to OK a strike.

 

Number of Jobless Germans Up in December

Number of Jobless Germans Up in December
By By MELISSA EDDY, Associated Press Writer
The number of jobless Germans edged over 4 million in December, government data showed Wednesday, but the figures showed a sharp drop when adjusted for seasonal factors. The unemployment rate was steady at 9.6 percent compared with November, and the...

 

Wal-Mart Employees Seek More Damages

Wal-Mart Employees Seek More Damages
By By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
Wal-Mart workers in Pennsylvania who won a $78.5 million judgment for working off the clock and through rest breaks returned to court Wednesday to seek another $72 million in damages and interest. They argue that about 125,000 plaintiffs in the class-...

 

Factories rebound, Fed cites growth concerns (Reuters)

Factories rebound, Fed cites growth concerns (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. manufacturing rebounded in December after a contraction in November, while construction spending fell less than expected in November, according to data on Wednesday suggesting a moderate economic expansion.

 

Private sector shed 40,000 jobs in Dec: report (Reuters)

Private sector shed 40,000 jobs in Dec: report (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. private sector employment contracted in December, the first time since April 2003, a private employment service report showed on Wednesday.

 

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Philadelphia Inquirer Begins Layoffs

Philadelphia Inquirer Begins Layoffs
The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday began a round of long-expected layoffs amid a drop in circulation and ad revenue.

 

New Hampshire state workers gear up for contract talks

N.H. state workers gear up for contract talks
Source: Concord Monitor
With the current contract for state employees due to expire this summer, union representatives and state officials are about to begin hammering out the next two-year agreement. Last week, Gov. John Lynch named his seven-member state negotiation team, which will be led by Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Manning. The state team will likely hold its first meeting next week, said Steve Taylor, commissioner of agriculture and a negotiating team member.

 

Iowa's 'invisible' workers lacking in pay, health care, safety

Iowa's 'invisible' workers lacking in pay, health care, safety
Source: Radio Iowa
A University of Iowa law professor says there's a growing segment of the workforce that lacks many important protections, from adequate pay to insurance to on-the-job safety. They're invisible, says professor Peggie Smith, because they go to work in the homes of their customers. Home health care is one of the fastest-growing workforce sectors in the U-S workforce.

 

Britain: Union plans tax day strike chaos

Union plans tax day strike chaos
Source: BBC
Britain's biggest civil service union is balloting 280,000 workers in 200 government departments and agencies about possible strike action.

 

Chief Justice Urges Pay Raise for Judges

Chief Justice Urges Pay Raise for Judges
By Robert Barnes
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. devoted his annual year-end report on the state of the nation's courts to just one issue, albeit one he said has "now reached the level of a constitutional crisis and threatens to undermine the strength and independence of the federal judiciary."

 

2 in 5 bosses don't keep their word, Florida State University survey shows

2 in 5 bosses don't keep their word, Florida State University survey shows
In StarTribune.com Business
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. For most people, it's back to work Tuesday after a holiday weekend with family and friends. And for many, a new study shows, it will be under a bad boss. Nearly two of five bosses don't keep their word and more than a fourth bad mouth those they supervise to co-workers, the Florida State University study shows. And those all-too-common poor managers create plenty of problems for companies as well, leading to poor morale, less production and higher turnover. "They say that employees don't leave their job or company, they leave their boss," said Wayne Hochwarter, an ass

 

12 months after Sago mine explosion, coal industry still changing

12 months after Sago mine explosion, coal industry still changing
In StarTribune.com Business
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Many of the safety measures state legislatures and Congress rushed to adopt to protect the 46,000 people working in the nation's underground coal mines after the Jan. 2. Sago Mine explosion have yet to take effect. There are still no rescue chambers or wireless tracking and communications equipment in the country's 606 underground coal mines, and it's unlikely there will be until federal requirements kick in more than two years from now.

 

Cost of living increase puts S.F. minimum wage over $9 / State rate also increased to $7.50 at first of the year -- federal unchanged since 1997

Cost of living increase puts S.F. minimum wage over $9 / State rate also increased to $7.50 at first of the year -- federal unchanged since 1997
By Marni Leff Kottle
Low-paid workers in San Francisco got a 3.6 percent pay raise Monday when the minimum wage was increased to $9.14 an hour. An ordinance passed in 2003 requires annual cost of living adjustments in the minimum wage, according to the city's Office of Labor...

 

Retail Clerks Reel from Holiday Rush, Returns

Retail Clerks Reel from Holiday Rush, Returns
NPR audio:
The holidays were no holiday for many retail clerks. From frenzied shoppers to endless gift returns, it's not easy working in retail. A "retail counseling" firm, focused on helping workers who've heard all they can take from shoppers, reports and increase in calls from clerks.

 

Timber town greets change with unease

Timber town greets change with unease
Along with the scent of freshly cut redwood, an air of uncertainty hangs over this idyllic Northern California logging town. Mel Berti feels it from behind the butcher counter at Hoby's Market, where he has greeted lumber mill workers and their families by name for three decades.

 

Mexican truckers await opening

Mexican truckers await opening
Mexican trucker Brigido Moctezuma lives in a city on Mexico's northern border, far from talks on whether he'll be able to drive his loads of vehicle air bags all the way to assembly lines in Detroit. All he knows is that he and his boss's fleet of trucks are ready, and have been for years.

 

Goodyear workers return to work after strike

Goodyear workers return to work after strike
Goodyear workers returned to work today after approving a three-year agreement covering 14,000 employees that includes plans to close a Tyler, Texas, tire factory.

 

Here's how your pay measures up

Here's how your pay measures up
It's something to contemplate in the anxious minutes before surgery -- your anesthesiologist makes six times more than your clergyman and 12 times more than your bartender.

 

Airline captains renew effort to up retirement age

Airline captains renew effort to up retirement age
Harry Ballance flies passenger jets in and out of Atlanta's busy airspace every week — just as he did during 35 years as a Delta Air Lines pilot. But instead of flying an airliner, Ballance is the captain of a much smaller but equally fast and complex corporate jet. The change was dictated by an FAA rule — now under scrutiny — that imposed mandatory retirements at age 60. Ballance says experience gives older pilots an edge, and he says they should be allowed to continue their airline careers as long as they meet stringent physical and performance standards.

 

Sides prepare for battle over minimum wage

Sides prepare for battle over minimum wage
WASHINGTON: Imagine what it would be like to work without a pay raise for nearly 10 years. That's been the plight of some workers who for almost the past decade have been earning the federal minimum wage. Their last pay increase - to $5.15 an hour - came in 1997.

 

Goodyear strike leaves lingering tensions

Goodyear strike leaves lingering tensions
By Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio -- The contract has been approved, the picket lines and fire barrels taken down, but some hard feelings remain among Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers who will return to work today after a three-month strike that at times got ugly.

 

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