labor

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China Braces for Fallout of Labor Law

New regs may drive manufacturers out in search for cheaper workers

(Newser) - 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...

GM Offering Buyouts to 5,200 Workers

New round aims to slash labor costs

(Newser) - 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...

Scribe Strike May Shake Up TV Biz
Scribe Strike May Shake
Up TV Biz

Scribe Strike May Shake Up TV Biz

Bigwigs have long wanted to cut costs, stagger show debuts

(Newser) - 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...

Writers Guild Files Complaint Against Studios

Striking Hollywood writers say studios illegally broke off talks

(Newser) - 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...

Ford Workers Ratify Pact With UAW
Ford Workers Ratify Pact
With UAW

Ford Workers Ratify Pact With UAW

All three big automakers have now finalized deals

(Newser) - 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...

Congress Defies Bush on Funds
Congress Defies Bush on Funds

Congress Defies Bush on Funds

House votes $10 billion for domestic programs White house seeks to ax

(Newser) - 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...

Hollywood Studios Strike Back
Hollywood Studios Strike Back

Hollywood Studios Strike Back

Cancel deals with production companies to spread the pain of writer's guild strike

(Newser) - Hollywood studios are moving quickly to spread the pain of the writers' strike, saying they'll start—as soon as today—suspending dozens of long-term deals with TV production companies and laying off assistants, development executives and production managers who work for striking writers. "Anyone who's not working on pilots...

Scribe Strike May Last Months
Scribe Strike May Last
Months

Scribe Strike May Last Months

No talks planned as shows tabled, actors refuse to work

(Newser) - The Hollywood writers strike could last for months, says ABC News, because negotiators will have trouble dividing profits that no one can predict.  "You can't slice a pie that isn't baked yet," a consultant tells ABC, referring to new media. "It's really poor timing on the...

Chrysler to Lay Off 12,000
Chrysler to Lay Off 12,000

Chrysler to Lay Off 12,000

Company will cut jobs, vehicles to adjust to failing auto market

(Newser) - Chrysler today announced plans to cut up to 12,100 jobs, about 14% of its workforce, on top of the 13,000 layoffs announced in February. With the US auto market tumbling—sales are on pace for their worst year since 1998—Chrysler’s new owners, private equity firm Cerberus...

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections
Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

(Newser) - Prime Minister John Howard, trailing in national polls after 11 years in office, set national elections today for Nov. 24. Howard will run on the nation’s current economic boom, Reuters reports. His opponent, Labor leader Kevin Rudd, says he'll pull Australian troops out of Iraq, though domestic issues are...

Auto Workers Face Off With Chrysler Next

Union turns to No. 3 automaker to extend terms of GM contract

(Newser) - The United Auto Workers have decided to sit down with Chrysler next, hoping to extend the terms of the contract negotiated with GM last month, Bloomberg reports. At Chrysler, the UAW will be dealing with a CEO who's been on the job just two months—Robert Nardelli, former chief of...

Market Rallies on Corporate Gains, Labor News

GM, McDonald's bolster stocks

(Newser) - US stocks rallied today, with blue chips and Countrywide Financial at the helm. A General Motors' analyst upgrade and  a higher-than-anticipated dividend at McDonald's helped drive the Dow up 133.23 points, to 13,424.88. Countrywide rose 14% on news that the battered lender has lined up $12 billion...

Tube Strike Cripples London
Tube Strike Cripples London

Tube Strike Cripples London

Most of city's subway shut down as workers protest pension cuts

(Newser) - A transit strike has shut down almost all of London's Underground subway system and has left commuters scrambling for alternate transportation. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union hopes to resolve a pension dispute today, the Times of London reports, but the city remains crippled, with service on 10 of 12...

US Laborers Work Hard for the Money

New UN report says Americans more productive than peers

(Newser) - Labor Day is a well-deserved rest for Americans, as a new UN report shows US laborers work longer, harder, and get more done than their counterparts worldwide. The average US worker produces the most wealth, raking in $63,885 yearly, followed by Irish laborers at $55,986. Only Norway beat...

Gay Support Turns Off Swing Voters
Gay Support Turns Off
Swing Voters

Gay Support Turns Off Swing Voters

Endorsements hurt more than help in key states, poll finds

(Newser) - The backing of gay rights groups could turn swing-state voters against a candidate, new polls show. Politico reports that Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania voters, by a large margin, consider the support of such groups reason to vote against rather than for a candidate; no one since JFK has been elected...

Elbows Keep Getting Sharper
Elbows Keep Getting Sharper

Elbows Keep Getting Sharper

In Chicago, the testy senators spar on Iraq and Pakistan

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama delivered their sharpest attacks yet at each other's foreign policy visions at a debate last night in Obama's hometown. Newsday writes that the two senators went after each other with unprecedented ferocity: Clinton suggested that Obama was naive and unschooled in diplomacy, while Obama cited...

Edwards Goes All-Out in Courting Labor

Candidate can't count on AFL-CIO but can target individual unions

(Newser) - Even though he can’t expect broad endorsement, John Edwards is pushing hard for labor support, hoping to rack up the backing of a slew of individual unions. The Washington Post reports ahead of tonight’s AFL-CIO-sponsored Democratic forum that union backing is key to the Southerner’s strategy, even...

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,...

Bloggers of the World, Unite?
Bloggers of the World, Unite?

Bloggers of the World, Unite?

Proposal to unionize provokes (surprise!) mixed reactions from online community

(Newser) - Some liberal bloggers are attempting to rally their keyboard-hammering brethren and form the first bloggers' union, an organization whose exact configuration is unclear. Some envision the group as a traditional labor faction that would fight for health benefits and recognition within the media, the AP reports, while others want a...

Schedule Woes Plague Northwest
Schedule Woes Plague Northwest

Schedule Woes Plague Northwest

Airline blames absenteeism for rampant cancellations, delays

(Newser) - Northwest Airlines is blaming a slew of weekend flight cancellations on a sharp rise in pilot absenteeism. The fifth-largest US airline canceled 200 flights over the past 2 days, but pilots say it has nothing to do with them skipping out on work, ABC News reports. They point the finger...

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