AT&T, Verizon Look to Ape GM/UAW Retiree Deal

(AP) - United Auto Workers members have ratified a package of concessions designed to reduce General Motors' labor costs. Union president Ron Gettelfinger said today 74% of GM's production and skilled-trade workers voted in favor. The vote comes before the company's expected Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing Monday. Bankruptcy experts say having an agreement in place before the filing will help move the process through court more quickly. More»

Chrysler, GM offer no plans to get people to buy their cars

(NEWSER) - GM and Chrysler now want another $22 billion from Washington—and propose to use dramatic job cuts to help right their respective ships. What both companies avoid, writes economist Susan Helper for the New Republic, is an appraisal of the real problem: Nobody wants to buy their cars. Rather than cutting labor costs, the companies need to figure out why a typical American car sells for $2,000 less than a comparable Japanese model. More»

Concessions meant to help Big Three win financial help from feds

(NEWSER) - The United Auto Workers agreed today to concessions that may help Detroit get $34 billion in federal assistance, the Detroit News reports. The union’s job bank—which pays eliminated employees 95% of their base salaries—will be suspended, and the UAW will delay billions in payments to its health care trust fund. Though union president Ron Gettelfinger skated inquiries about wage cuts, he said contract modifications were possible. More»

Digital networks soon only option, but service has its kinks

(NEWSER) - Phone customers still dialing up using old analog networks will be out of luck—and service—beginning Feb. 18 when the nation’s wireless companies shut down the outdated technology and switch to digital. Of the quarter-billion American cell phone users, the vast majority use digital networks, but some 1 million people still phone the old way, reports the Washington Post. More»

Healthy companies use bankruptcy to cut labor costs: Stephen Gandel

(NEWSER) - American Airlines has $4 billion in the bank, doesn’t need emergency financing, and feels quite confident it can keep paying its vendors, business partners, and creditors in full. So where was the crisis that pushed it into bankruptcy ? “It doesn’t appear there was any,” writes Stephen Gandel at Time . Well, according to its press release it was to “address our cost structure, including labor costs.” Translation: American is trying to force its union, which it’s been unsuccessfully negotiating with, to take pay and benefit cuts. More»