Labor & Economic News Blog


Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Temporary Permits to Be Extended
By Mary Beth Sheridan
The Bush administration has decided to grant a one-year extension of temporary permits allowing about 300,000 Salvadoran, Nicaraguan and Honduran immigrants to remain legally in the United States, officials said last night.

 

Friday, February 10, 2006

No breakthrough in postal strike
In Northern Ireland
The Communications Workers Union has been considering an offer by Royal Mail to bring in a third party to help resolve the dispute.
Further talks were held at the Labour Relations Agency on Thursday evening.

 

Jobs go as textiles firm closes
In Northern Ireland
A Carrickfergus textile company, which prints, dyes and finishes fabrics, closes with the loss of 50 jobs.

 

VW Warns Up to 20,000 Jobs Could Be Cut
By By MATT MOORE, AP Business Writer
Volkswagen AG said Friday that up to 20,000 jobs could be cut in the next three years as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs and make Europe's biggest automaker more profitable. The announcement came as the company reported a preliminary 2005...

 

Alta Bates settles with service workers / 2-year labor fight at hospital ends in Oakland, Berkeley
By Victoria Colliver
Service employees at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley reached a tentative contract agreement with hospital management Thursday morning, bringing a two-year labor dispute close to an end. After a 16-hour session, the bargaining...

 

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Delta Union to Strike if Pact Rejected
By By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer
Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots will strike if their contract is thrown out as part of the carrier's attempt to impose $325 million in concessions, the chairman of the union's executive committee said Thursday. The chairman, Lee Moak, also told The...

 

Union Backs Off Deutsche Telekom Deal
By By MATT MOORE, AP Business Writer
The German labor union ver.di on Thursday backed off a tentative agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG over the company's plans to cut thousands of jobs through 2008. Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom said in November that it planned to cut 32,000 jobs as part...

 

Jobless Claims Rise by 4,000 Last Week
By By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits edged up slightly last week but remained at a level indicating a strong labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that 277,000 persons went to state unemployment offices last week to...

 

Oracle to lay off 2,000 people
By Carrie Kirby
Oracle detailed its plans to cut jobs in the wake of its $5.85 billion takeover of Siebel Systems, saying that 2,000 people -- culled from both firms -- will be let go. "The majority of the people being laid off are Oracle employees, not Siebel...

 

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

'No agreement' in postal dispute
In Northern Ireland
Striking postal staff in Belfast tell union representatives that they are not going back to work.

 

Unions call off BBC jobs strikes
Strikes by hundreds of BBC production workers are called off after a new offer was tabled in a dispute over jobs. About 500 Bectu and National Union of Journalists members had been due to walk out on 15 and 23 February, threatening disruption to radio shows.

 

Lawsuit Tests Whistleblowers' Protection
By By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer
Was Mark Livingston trying to blow the whistle on suspect corporate behavior, and protect his company's shareholders? Or was he making trouble? Next week, a judge in Greensboro, N.C. will parse through the story of Livingston and the company that fired...

 

EU Urges Free Movement of Workers
By By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press Writer
The European Commission called Wednesday for an end to restrictions on the movement of workers within the European Union, arguing that old EU members who open their labor markets will not face an influx of migrants. Only three of the 15 old EU members...

 

Things are looking up / Many Bay Area companies plan to hire workers
By Carolyn Said
Bay Area business leaders are increasingly confident about the local economy and a significant number plan to add jobs during the next six months, according to a survey to be released today by the Bay Area Council. "The signs are about as bright as...

 

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Factories report falling orders
About 24,000 factory jobs are at risk over the next three months as UK manufacturers struggle with falling orders, business leaders warn. According to the CBI and research group Experian, a drop in domestic and export orders hit production throughout most of the UK in the last quarter of 2005.

 

French march over youth jobs plan
In Europe
French students and trade unions march against a draft law aimed at making youth employment more flexible.

 

Pension age increase in UK 'inevitable'
A rise in the state pension age is "inevitable" by 2020, says Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton.

 

Friday, February 03, 2006

Unemployment Rate Declines in January
By By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
Employers stepped up hiring in January, boosting payrolls by 193,000 and lowering the nation's unemployment rate to 4.7 percent, the lowest since July 2001. The fresh snapshot of the jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested...

 

Northwest Flight Attendants Offer Proposal
By By ALEKSANDRS ROZENS, AP Business Writer
Northwest Airlines flight attendants have offered to give up 1,553 jobs and accept a 22.5 percent pay cut, but the bankrupt airline's management has not responded to the proposal which was made on Tuesday, a union official said Friday. "We have gotten...

 

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Del Monte Stops Pineapple Growing in Hawaii
After 90 years in the islands, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. says it will cease pineapple operations in Hawaii in a little more than two years. Del Monte said it was no longer economically feasible to grow pineapple in Hawaii because it can be grown for...

 

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Bankrupt Calpine to lay off 300 workers
By By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer
Bankrupt power merchant Calpine Corp. on Wednesday disclosed plans to fire about 9 percent of its employees in a purge designed to trim its annual expenses by $50 million as it battles to recover from its financial woes. Besides jettisoning 300...

 

United heads out of turbulence / Long bankruptcy leaves some bitter workers in its wake
By David Armstrong
United Airlines plans to fly out of Chapter 11 early this month, perhaps as soon as today, after more than three years in bankruptcy -- a crisis that reached from a Chicago courtroom into the corridors of power in Washington and rocked the worlds of current...

 

Plan OK for rich, healthy
By David Lazarus
When he leaves office in a couple of years, President Bush will continue to be covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefit plan, for which taxpayers pay up to 75 percent of costs. He'll also receive a pension of more than $180,000 a year and will be...

 

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