Workers, invited to negotiate, beat Indian chief of Italian manufacturing firm to death
Independent (UK) Sep 23, 08 4:17 PM CDT
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An angry mob of laid-off workers killed their former boss at an Italian manufacturing firm in India yesterday, the Independent reports. Lalit Kishore Choudhary, who oversaw Oerlikon Graziano’s auto-parts business in India, was bludgeoned to death with iron bars as he tried to negotiate with the disgruntled former employees. Apparently, a deal was in the works to bring some workers back.
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OPINION
Wealth disparities are what's keeping big earners sweating
New York Times Sep 2, 08 8:06 AM CDT
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America’s higher earners are working harder all the time —but it’s not because of PDAs and laptops. It’s because of a fear of being “left behind” as wealth gaps widen among the upper classes, writes Dalton Conley in the New York Times . “Rising inequality causes us to work more to keep up in an economy increasingly dominated by status goods.”
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AFL-CIO spot aims to separate war record from economic policy
Chicago Tribune Jul 9, 08 5:05 PM CDT
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Worried about the appeal John McCain has for military veterans among its members, the AFL-CIO is launching an advertising campaign criticizing the Republican's economic policies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The union will spend $53.4 million on the campaign, running mainly in places like Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia— battleground states hit hard by the economic downturn.
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Larger SAG, with contract set to expire, aims to torpedo smaller union's deal
Los Angeles Times Jun 30, 08 10:45 AM CDT
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In the escalation of a long-simmering turf war, the largest Hollywood actors union is attempting to scuttle a deal reached by its smaller rival with studios, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though the Screen Actors Guild isn't planning to strike when its contract expires tonight, it's urging members who also belong to the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors to vote against that contract.
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Unions worry that candidate is tilting toward Wall Street
New York Times Jun 12, 08 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
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After locking up the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama moved quickly to bring Clinton supporters into his general election tent, including Robert Rubin, President Clinton's treasury secretary. Jason Furman, an economist closely associated with Rubin, was hired as economic policy director, and that's provoked the ire of labor unions, who see him, along with his mentor, as tilting toward Wall Street, writes the New York Times .
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End of labor deal could lead to 2011 lockout
ESPN May 21, 08 8:48 AM CDT
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As the NFL deals with Spygate's embarrassment, an even bigger concern has appeared on the horizon: the league's owners voted unanimously yesterday to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement, which could lead to a lockout in 2011. Commissioner Roger Goodell insists that there will be at least three more seasons of football before any interruption, reports ESPN.
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Kerviel cost SocGen $7.2B, but law says he can't be sacked—yet
Wall Street Journal Feb 1, 08 11:27 AM CST
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Make no mistake, Société Générale would like to fire Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue trader who cost the bank $7.2 billion. But under French labor laws, he can’t be dismissed without a formal sit-down to discuss his employer's problems with his performance. That will be tough, because a judge has forbidden Kerviel to have any contact with the bank, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Brewhaha over coffee bosses' plot to stop baristas from organizing
Wall Street Journal Jan 10, 08 3:05 AM CST
(Newser)
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Starbucks bosses trying to stop baristas from union organizing did some internet sleuthing to discover who had graduated from a university labor program—and even had Halloween partygoers snooped on, the Wall Street Journal reports. Starbucks' own emails detailing "our attempts to thwart a potential union situation" by identifying pro-union workers are now before a New York judge looking into claims the company violated labor laws.
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New regs may drive manufacturers out
in search for cheaper workers
Bloomberg Jan 1, 08 2:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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Olympus, Nike, and other manufacturers operating on low margins may close up shop in China after the government’s new labor law protecting workers comes into effect today, reports Bloomberg. The law improves worker security, limits overtime, sets minimum wages, and makes it more difficult to hire temporary workers, among other provisions. It "will definitely raise our costs," says one electronics manufacturer's rep.
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New round aims to slash labor costs
Detroit News Dec 19, 07 5:59 AM CST
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General Motors is offering to buy out another 5,200 hourly workers, the Detroit News reports. The automaker, worried that the slowdown in auto sales will carry into next year, is keen to get veteran workers out the door and lower-paid new workers in. Over 34,000 blue-collar workers left the company last year in a similar deal.
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Bigwigs have long wanted to cut costs, stagger show debuts
Variety Dec 16, 07 5:36 AM CST
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TV bigwigs are looking on the bright side of the scribe strike, they say, vowing to finally make overdue changes to boost the bottom line. Slashing costs, staggering show debuts, and making network TV look and act more like cable are notions that have been kicked around for years. Now may be time to do them: "This is a great opportunity to come up with a model that makes television healthier," one exec told Variety .
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Striking Hollywood writers say studios illegally broke off talks
Associated Press Dec 14, 07 7:30 AM CST
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Striking Hollywood writers, charging that studios acted illegally when they broke off negotiations Dec. 7, yesterday filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The goal is to force producers back to the table, reports the AP, but experts say it could backfire, shutting down any back-channel talks that could help restart negotiations in the six-week-old strike.
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All three big
automakers have
now finalized deals
Detroit Free Press Nov 14, 07 3:16 PM CST
(Newser)
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UAW workers at Ford overwhelmingly approved a four-year contract today that shifts responsibility for some retiree health benefits to the union, the Detroit Free Press reports. The agreement also allows Ford to hire new employees for lower wages and fewer benefits. The contract approval follows similar deals at GM and Chrysler, though Ford was the only one of the three to avoid a strike.
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House votes $10 billion for domestic programs White house seeks to ax
Reuters Nov 9, 07 2:40 AM CST
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The Democratic-controlled Congress has approved an extra $10 billion for education and health care, daring the White House to veto the extra funding for popular domestic programs that President Bush seeks to cut. The vote came as the Senate dealt the White House its first veto override on a water resources bill.
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