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Disclaimer
Links on
these pages to commercial sites do not represent endorsement by
the University of California or its affiliates.
The opinions
expressed on this Weblog are the responsibility of the contributing
authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Institute of Industrial
Relations, The University of California, or the Regents of the
University of California
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Institute
of Industrial Relations Library
Labor and Employment Weblog
University of California, Berkeley |
Updated
5/24/2004; 3:41:09 PM
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Monday, May 24, 2004 |
Jobs threat hits north-east England textile factory. More than 100 jobs are under threat at a Wearside textile factory. The news is another blow to the north-east of England's struggling clothing industry, which has seen a spate of job losses over the past year. Bosses at the Dewhirst factory in Sunderland are to begun consultation with unions over the future of about 120 posts. The company is blaming falling orders and cheap foreign competition for the situation. BBC May 22 2004 1:41PM GMT
2:55:04 PM 
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Boeing union recommends members reject offer, approve strike. The union of technical and professional workers at Boeing Co.'s Wichita plant urged its members Monday to reject the company's latest contract offer and authorize a strike. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace -- which narrowly survived a decertification vote in February -- received what the company called its final offer Monday morning, just three hours before its members were scheduled to vote on whether to accept or reject it. San Francisco Chronicle May 24 2004 6:54PM GMT
2:48:51 PM
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Runoff needed to pick Chicago Teachers Union president. Chicago Teachers Union members will need a runoff election after none of the four got the 50 percent of the vote needed to win the union's presidential election, the union said Saturday. The top two finishers in Friday's election, current President Deborah Lynch and special-education teacher Marilyn Stewart, will square off June 11. Chicago Sun-Times May 23 2004 12:13PM GMT
2:39:54 PM
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UAL Can't Rule Out Furloughs. United Airlines Chief Operating Officer Pete McDonald on Monday said employee furloughs could not be ruled out given the high price of jet fuel. Reuters May 24 2004 6:15PM GMT
2:28:50 PM
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Preying On Human Cargo (Forbes.com). Forbes.com - Victor Zavala Sr. was in a panic. His sons and daughter-in-law had just been arrested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's immigration division, part of a sweep last October of 250 illegals who held cleaning jobs at Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. Zavala waited on a call from Kenneth Clancy, who had put him and his family to work at the giant retailer in Old Bridge, Piscataway and Toms River, N.J., and would get them out of this horrendous scrape. Clancy did phone, says Zavala. But it was to tell him to put together a new crew to clean that evening. [Yahoo! News - Business]
12:06:53 PM
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Boeing defense workers accept new 3-year contract ST. LOUIS -- Machinists and aerospace workers for The Boeing Co.'s St. Louis-based defense unit approved a new contract yesterday, hours before the current contract was to expire. The three-year deal, which takes effect today, was approved 1,221- 808 by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' District 837, union spokesman Thomas Pinski said. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Business]
12:02:59 PM
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On the Job: N.Y. baristas get organized Some New York baristas want more for their lattes and mochas. They're threatening to form the first union at a U.S. Starbucks store. In midtown Manhattan, baristas sent union cards to the National Labor Relations Board last week, seeking a vote that could occur next month on union representation for roughly 12 employees, according to Daniel Gross, a Starbucks worker and one of the organizers. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Business]
12:01:54 PM
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Can Blue-Collar Cities Make A Comeback?. Such a strategy is the best hope, it says, to hold and attract the young and creative people who've been fleeing the state. But will businesses be willing to locate in older cities that often have a reputation -- justified or not -- for neighborhood blight, crime and disorder, polluted brownfields, poor schools? Mon, 24 May 2004 10:00:00 PDT [PLANetizen: Front Page]
11:54:40 AM
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Mass firing at big meat-packer in Alberta Canada leaves immigrant workers at a loss (Canadian Press). Canadian Press - BROOKS, Alta. A water truck hoses down the dusty road leading into the Lakeside Packers plant as the B shift begins to arrive. Inside the $150-million plant, owned by American meat-packing giant Tyson Foods, officials are still working at settling the dust raised by a mass firing of workers last month. Tyson won't say how many people they fired last month, but workers - mostly Sudanese refugees with limited grasp of English - have compiled a list of 60 names and signatures of colleagues they claim were dismissed for sticking up for workers' rights. [Yahoo! News - World]
11:32:44 AM
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Friday, May 21, 2004 |
Oregon Prisoners Must Pay for Jail Stay (AP). AP - First, Sheriff Tim Evinger eliminated ketchup, salt, coffee and pepper at the jail, a move he says saved an instant $30,000 a year in runaway beverage and condiment costs. Now, Evinger has decided to start charging inmates $60 a day to help cover the costs of their stay behind bars. [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]
4:34:14 PM
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UAL reaches benefits deal with mechanics. United Airlines said Friday it has reached an agreement with the union that represents its mechanics on proposed changes to retiree benefits as it seeks to exit bankruptcy protection. Negotiations on the benefits issues are ongoing with other unionized groups, bankruptcy attorney James Sprayregen said at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in Chicago. Mechanics are now represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association. ChicagoBusiness.com May 21 2004 7:03PM GMT
3:24:59 PM
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Thursday, May 20, 2004 |
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Wednesday, May 19, 2004 |
Slovak unemployment dips to 15.25 % in April.
The unemployment rate in Slovakia fell to 15.25 % in April, down from 16 % in March and 15.44 % one year earlier, according to figures released by Slovakia's Center for Labor, Social Affairs and Family.
The result was slightly better than preliminary estimates, which put the April jobless rate at 15.4 %. The number of job seekers ready to start work immediately fell 4.73 % to 399,309 in April.
The data for the past two months represent a renewed downward trend in unemployment, according to the center's spokesman, Peter Zemanik. Forecasts suggest unemployment could fall to under 15 % in May, he adds.
The Bratislava region again registered the lowest unemployment level of under 4 %, while the highest levels of over 30 % were seen in the districts of Rimavska Sobota, Revuca, Velky Krtis and Roznava.
Interfax Information Agency May 19 2004 12:37PM GMT
4:07:58 PM
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S.F. nonprofit to shut down. The Management Center, the financially troubled San Francisco nonprofit that has advised tens of thousands of nonprofit groups over the past 27 years, plans to shut down today and sell its programs to other organizations. San Francisco Chronicle May 19 2004 12:41PM GMT
3:40:42 PM
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Clark County Washington unemployment rate falls below 8 percent. Clark County, Wash.'s unemployment rate fell to 7.9 percent in April from 8 percent in March, although the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in April, up two-tenths of a percent from March. Business Journal of Portland May 18 2004 11:19PM GMT
3:27:06 PM
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Immigrants in Minnesota will send millions back to Latin America. ST. PAUL - Nearly 40,000 immigrants from Latin America living in Minnesota will send more than $147 million back home this year, providing an important link between families and economies, according to a new federal survey. Miami Herald May 19 2004 2:08PM GMT
2:17:01 PM
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Immigrant Workers 'Helpful to UK Economy'. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today that workers arriving in Britain from new member countries of the European Union were bringing useful skills and helping the UK. Mr Straw, speaking during a visit to Basildon, Essex, said that, provided immigrants from countries such as Poland paid taxes, they were not harming the British economy. PA News via The Scotsman Online May 19 2004 11:22AM GMT
2:15:58 PM
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Korean auto industry facing labors steep demands. Unions are demanding participation in company management and requesting that companies provide social welfare funds in addition to wage increases. Companies say they cannot accept such "infringements of managerial rights." The unions of four automobile companies under the Korea Metal Worker's Federation ¯ Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Daewoo Auto & Technology and Ssangyong Motor ¯ made their demands at a joint press conference yesterday Joon Ang Ilbo May 19 2004 4:44PM GMT
1:30:58 PM
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The brewery strike that is unnerving Norwegian beer drinkers. Norway's brewery workers have gone out on strike, and supplies may run out. With all production now at a halt, Norway cannot even import from neighbours Sweden or Denmark, because its truck drivers are also on strike. The 2,560 striking full-time brewery staff fear that a growth in temporary workers may undermine job security. BBC May 19 2004 4:06PM GMT
12:10:32 PM
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Clashes erupt as three Andean nations open free trade talks with U.S. Colombia, Ecuador and Peru opened negotiations for a free trade accord with the United States Tuesday as anti-riot police clashed with protesters who say the pact would lead to job losses in the South American nations. Some 2,000 people marched through the Caribbean port city of Cartagena toward the conference center where the talks took place, holding signs that read "Colombia is not for sale" and "No free trade deal." San Francisco Chronicle May 19 2004 4:25AM GMT
12:08:35 PM
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CWA union Gives SBC Final Strike Notice. The Communication Workers of America the union representing 102,000 employees of SBC Communications Inc. said Wednesday it would stage a four-day strike starting Friday because of a deadlock in contract negotiations with the nation’s second biggest local phone service provider.MSNBC May 19 2004 1:53PM GMT
11:42:47 AM
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Detroit fights to save jobs. Marvin Washington cleans the interiors of city buses. The newlywed’s job — and that of his co-worker wife — is one of the targeted layoffs within the Detroit Department of Transportation. “We don’t have enough people working in that department, and they cut our overtime. We’re looking for other jobs now,” said Washington, 39, a coach service attendant. Detroit News May 19 2004 12:55PM GMT
11:37:44 AM
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Tuesday, May 18, 2004 |
Japanese truck maker prepares Arkansas site for parts plant. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Toyota's Japanese truck-making partner said Tuesday it may add a truck assembly plant to a planned parts plant in Marion, where the company says it will break ground in July. Hino Motors Ltd. of Tokyo said it will open the parts plant at the 160-acre site in 2006 and consider a full truck-assembly plant there if its new American truck line does well enough. AP via Florida Times-Union May 18 2004 9:53PM GMT
4:47:21 PM
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Car plant closure in Australia to cost company $220m. MITSUBISHI Motors Australia will have to pay about $50million in employee entitlements and another $170 million in superannuation if it quits its two Adelaide factories. The 3500 employees of the plants in the southern suburbs will discover their fate on Friday, with the parent company confirming yesterday it would be revealing its long-awaited business plan in Tokyo then. news.com.au May 18 2004 10:09PM GMT
4:45:20 PM
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Oakland's unemployment rate drops. OAKLAND -- The city's unemployment rate fell to 9 percent in April from 9.9 percent in March, the largest single monthly decline in at least 14 years. Oakland's jobless rate was 10.7 percent last April and peaked at 11.6 percent in July, according to the state Employment Development Department. Oakland Tribune May 18 2004 12:18PM GMT
4:34:02 PM
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Jobs going offshore faster than estimated. New figures on offshore outsourcing suggest that American companies are sending even more white-collar jobs to low-wage countries such as India, China and Russia than researchers originally estimated. Roughly 830,000 U.S. service-sector jobs — ranging from telemarketers and accountants to software engineers and chief technology officers — will move abroad by the end of 2005, according to a report released Monday by Forrester Research Inc. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm projected in 2002 that 588,000 jobs would move overseas by the end of next year. Pioneer Planet May 18 2004 2:10PM GMT
4:14:12 PM
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Friday, May 14, 2004 |
Whirlpool closes Canadian appliance factory that employed 600. MONTMAGNY, Quebec - The 600 employees at Whirlpool Corp.'s appliance factory east of Quebec City worked their last shift Thursday, two years after the company announced that the plant would close. Production at the Montmagny plant, which was founded in 1867 and had several owners, is being transferred to the United States and Mexico. The factory was the town's biggest employer for more than a century. Miami Herald May 13 2004 9:20PM GMT
2:29:21 PM
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Maytag CEO: U.S. plants must cut costs. The company is in the process of closing a 1,600-employee plant in Galesburg, Ill., and moving production to Mexico. But Hake told shareholders attending the annual meeting there are no plans to shift more U.S. jobs there - although the company does have space at the Mexcio facility to accommodate future growth. AP via Seattle Post Intelligencer May 13 2004 9:46PM GMT
2:28:14 PM
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Residents, workers fear impact of service cuts. Across Metro Detroit, communities are preparing to make painful, visible cuts in the programs and services their residents have come to expect. Warren plans to lay off 36 firefighters and paramedics. Beat cops no longer will patrol the streets of downtown Plymouth. Royal Oak motorists could face steeper fines for traffic tickets. Dearborn’s library staff could be cut to the point the city will have to rely on volunteer librarians, and city budget officials may have to eliminate an additional 50 jobs from the city payroll. Livonia called off the Memorial Day parade. Detroit News May 14 2004 6:13AM GMT
2:25:52 PM
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Workers Afraid to Report Injuries?. Workers Comp Insider reports that The National Council on Compensation Insurance has announced 2003 workers' compensation results. The find the results "both interesting and confounding." For the sixth straight year, claim frequency, the total number [Confined Space]
2:24:20 PM
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Ghetto's in Denmark
Despite the country's long-held ideals of social equity and cradle-to-grave welfare, Denmark is increasingly becoming a socioeconomically polarized society. While the upwardly mobile and well-to-do are settling in comfortable residential neighbourhoods or privately rented apartments, the socially marginalized are stranded in ghettos with high concentrations of immigrants.
The trend was outlined in a new report by the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (AE), which was aimed at mapping the emergence of ghettos in Denmark. In 1982, 1.9 percent of the Danish population resided in what could accurately be termed "social ghettos." By 2002, that figure had swelled to 4.8 percent, comprising more than one out of four public housing complexes.
Some 250,000 Danes currently live in social ghettos, more than 30 percent of whom are classified as socially disadvantaged Copenhagen Post May 14 2004 9:41AM GMT
1:22:10 PM
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30 job to go as Ireland County Laois textiles company closes
Over 30 people are to lose their jobs in Co Laois with the closure of a textile company there.
Mountmellick Textiles employs 33 people, almost all of whom have worked there for 25 years.
The company has been in operation for 50 years and is to close in eight weeks time. A struggling textile industry is being blamed. Irish News May 14 2004 3:21AM GMT
12:32:05 PM
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Leaders to Gather at World Economic Forum (AP). AP - Hundreds of political, business and civic leaders have an intense agenda as they gather at the lowest point on Earth — the Dead Sea — to address the Middle East's most pressing issues: terrorism, reform and how to create 80 million jobs by 2020. [Yahoo! News - World]
10:41:44 AM
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Number of migrant rural workers in China reach 113.9m in 2003. BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China had 113.9 million migrant workers from rural areas in 2003, who accounted for 23.2 percent of the total rural laborers, according to a survey carried out by China's State Statistical Bureau. In 2003, about 69 million rural laborers worked in medium-sizedcities and 56.2 million rural laborers worked outside their provinces, covering 61 percent and 49.9 percent respectively of the total, according to the spot survey, which investigated 68,000rural families and 7,100 villages among 31 provinces. Xinhua News Agency May 14 2004 12:28PM GMT
10:39:29 AM
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Kodak staff worry about cost cutting strategy. Many of the 250 attendees at the annual meeting, held near Kodak Park , the company's biggest manufacturing facility, were current and former employees, worried that future cost-cutting may hurt their benefits and the jobs of family members. Spurred by declining demand for traditional film, Kodak is set to cut up to 15,000 jobs over the next three years as it invests in digital businesses such as commercial printing. NewIndPress May 13 2004 11:36PM GMT
10:38:17 AM
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Thursday, May 13, 2004 |
Hotels may close due to strike. Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union (HRAF) did not reach an agreement with the Norwegian Hospitality Association (RBL) Tuesday and threatens to close all the hotels. Nettavisen Forside May 12 2004 11:39AM GMT
4:41:48 PM
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SBC, CWA continue contract negotiations. A contract between SBC Communications Inc. and a labor union representing 100,000 workers is being extended on a day-to-day basis, a union spokeswoman said Tuesday. Negotiators for the company and the Communications Workers of America met Monday with federal mediator Peter J. Hurtgen. The meeting came after the union extended discussions past a strike deadline originally set for last Saturday. SiliconValley.com May 12 2004 2:12AM GMT
4:25:11 PM
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Norwegian journalists strike. Oslo - Nearly 2 900 Norwegian journalists walked off their jobs on Wednesday after failing to settle a new contract, crippling major newspapers and the national news and photo agencies. News24.com May 12 2004 12:24PM GMT
4:21:08 PM
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Spanish jobs at car giant Seat saved. BARCELONA – The president of Spanish car giant Seat said Thursday the production of 10 percent of one of the firm's leading models is to return to Catalonia from a plant in Slovakia. Expatica Spain May 13 2004 5:35PM GMT
4:14:56 PM
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411 San Diego county workers face loss of jobs. Despite employees' pleas, the supervisors voted unanimously to hand out layoff notices to 411 workers and to eliminate 986 vacant positions. The reductions amount to about 7 percent of the county's work force of nearly 18,000. SignOn San Diego May 12 2004 10:33AM GMT
4:08:41 PM
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Malaysia: Labor Accord Fails Indonesian Migrant Workers. Malaysia and Indonesia have signed an agreement on labor migration that denies basic protections to migrant workers and excludes household workers, Human Rights Watch said today. Indonesian domestic workers, almost exclusively women, are at grave risk of abuse and exploitation in Malaysia. Human Rights Watch May 11 2004 10:22PM GMT
3:36:21 PM
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Manhattan Storeowner Accused of Underpaying and Sexually Harassing Workers. Three immigrant women yesterday filed a federal lawsuit that accused a Manhattan store owner of paying them far less than the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage and telling them he would not grant them raises unless they had sex with him. The lawsuit asserts that the women, who worked as cashiers and stocked merchandise, were paid as little as $30 for a 10-hour day, or $3 an hour, and were told they were to blame for their low pay because they refused to have sex with the boss. New York Times May 13 2004 6:20AM GMT [
3:22:31 PM
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Job push in Brooklyn with new job training center.
A new job training center in downtown Brooklyn has launched a drive to place local residents in hundreds of jobs at a soon-to-open shopping center.
The Brooklyn Workforce1 Career Center, which opened today at 9 Bond St., plans to work with retailers at the Atlantic Terminal Development's mall to fill most of the 800 new jobs that will be created. The shopping center, slated to open in July, will be located above the transportation hub at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. Businesses that plan to hire through the center include Target, Starbucks, Verizon Wireless, Mcdonald's, The Children's Place, Daffy's, Coldstone Creamery, and Men's Wearhouse.
The career center is operated by the city Department of Small Business Services, the state Labor Department and the City University of New York. It is partnering with the city Sales and Service Training Partnership and the National Retail Federation to help local community-based organizations assess, train and place jobseekers.
Copyright 2004, Crains NY Business May 13 2004 7:19AM GMT
3:21:26 PM
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Teacher Layoffs In East Bay, San Francisco. Facing mounting budget deficits, school officials in both San Francisco and the West Contra Costa School District voted late Tuesday night to lay off hundreds of teachers and other personnel. Seventy-nine teachers, counselors and librarians will be laid off in San Francisco while 350 teachers, counselors and school librarians will be pink slipped in West Contra Costa. BayInsider May 13 2004 0:06AM GMT
3:16:50 PM
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Governor urged to back off anti-offshoring directive. Arizona business interests want Gov. Janet Napolitano to rescind her recent directive aimed at weeding foreign outsourcing and offshoring out of state government contract work. Business Journal of Phoenix May 12 2004 10:43PM GMT
3:11:33 PM
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Gap Inc. describes working conditions in garment factories worldwide. The San Francisco-based owner of the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores made the comments Wednesday in its first ever "social responsibility" report -- a 40-page document that mixed contrition about the past with promises to do better in the future. San Francisco Chronicle May 12 2004 4:10PM GMT
3:07:48 PM
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Paris rail commuters face delays as strike begins. French commuters, especially those in the Paris area, braced Wednesday for widespread delays as rail workers called a 36-hour strike over plans to reorganise the freight sector of the national railway SNCF. Expatica France May 12 2004 3:32PM GMT
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Steel Production Resumes At ISG. CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland steel mill is jump-starting production again today after closing its doors for three years. About 140 workers were expected to be back at work today after a $10 million renovation of the old LTV steel mill. NewsChannel5 reported. NewsNet 5 May 12 2004 11:49PM GMT
2:52:47 PM
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Employment rate up for Japanese high school graduates.
TOKYO — The employment rate among new high school graduates in Japan at the end of March rose to 89% from 86.7% a year ago, reflecting signs of an emerging economic recovery, a government survey said Thursday.
The rate increased for the second consecutive year and this spring's rise of 2.3 percentage points was far larger than the 0.4 point figure of a year ago, said an official at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (Kyodo News) [Japan Today: Business]
2:09:58 PM
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Copyright
2004
Janice Kimball
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