labor costs

9 Stories

Foxconn Caves to Pressure, Ups Wages

Apple supplier works to improve conditions following consumer outcry

(Newser) - Foxconn will bump workers' salaries by as much as 25% while decreasing the amount of overtime demanded of them, the company announced this weekend, in a bid to stem the tide of outrage against it and high-profile customers such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell. The move is a victory for...

Our Innovative Green Lightbulbs Are Made in China

Innovation costs US yet more factory jobs

(Newser) - The Obama administration often argues that promoting green technologies will create new American jobs, but tell that to the 200 guys still working at GE’s last major incandescent light bulb factory in Virginia. The factory is closing this month, thanks to a 2007 law essentially outlawing the old-fashioned bulbs....

GM, UAW Cut Deal on Labor, Health Care

Tentative pact may save struggling auto giant more than $1B

(Newser) - Monitored by the Treasury department, General Motors and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative deal to modify conditions of their labor contract and retiree health care trust, which could save the flatlining automaker more than $1 billion. Still, Chapter 11 bankruptcy remains likely for GM, and union reps...

Firms Shave Costs Without Layoffs

Some workers willingly take wage cuts to save their jobs

(Newser) - Some companies are finding creative ways to cut labor, and keep it, too. Brandeis University, for example, convinced 30% of its instructors to forgo 1% of their pay. "It can save a few jobs," reasons an English prof who's hardly alone. Many workers have accepted reduced hours, unpaid...

Sorry, Veterans, Vietnam Is Profitable Now
Sorry, Veterans, Vietnam Is Profitable Now
OPINION

Sorry, Veterans, Vietnam Is Profitable Now

American companies move to Hanoi, reap benefits of communism

(Newser) - More expensive Chinese labor has American enterprises heading to Vietnam, moving Harold Meyerson to wonder, in the Washington Post, why 58,000 US soldiers died trying to defend democracy there. "American business, backed by the American government, has realized that the problem with communism wasn't that it was undemocratic...

Pay Cuts Will Affect 25% of GM Workforce

New 'non-core' classification nearly halves $51/hour pay

(Newser) - UAW’s new contract with GM will mean lower wages for a quarter of union employees, Bloomberg reports. The 16,766 jobs labeled “non-core” in the deal would drop to $28 an hour, down from $51 an hour. “This is the beginning of the end of the well-paid...

Recalls Will Increase 'Made in China' Prices

New quality standards are expected to pinch consumers' pockets

(Newser) - Following a series of high-profile toy recalls and international criticism over China's export standards, the the cost of merchandise bearing the "Made in China" is expected to rise at least 10% in the next year, the LA Times reports. "For American consumers, the big China sale over the...

Stocks Rise as Traders Find Signs for Optimism

Spending, productivity outpace estimates

(Newser) - US stocks rose today, Bloomberg reports, boosted by news that back-to-school and luxury shopping outpaced forecasts, along with a spike in worker productivity and a slowdown in labor costs. The Dow climbed 57.88 to 13,363.35. The Nasdaq gained 8.37 to finish at 2,614.32, and...

Productivity Up, But Inflation Still Looms

Escalating cost of labor helps drag down growing economy

(Newser) - US productivity increased last quarter, but analysts are still worried about the economy’s ability to grow while keeping inflation at bay. Nonfarm business productivity rose by 1.8%, beating the first quarter’s rate of 0.7%, but the government was forced to lower productivity estimates for previous years,...

9 Stories