Labor Relations
Pork Processing Plant Opening Health Clinic
December 19, 2012 8:17 am | by Hayleigh Colombo, Journal & Courier | News | CommentsMore than 2,000 workers and their families will have the option of using a free health clinic once Indiana Packers Corp.'s health clinic opens this week in Delphi. The 3,600-square-foot facility was built this fall to serve the nearby pork processing plant and is a partnership between Indiana Packers, Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health and Unity Healthcare.
Calif. Meatpacker Settles Discrimination Claim
December 19, 2012 7:50 am | News | CommentsA meatpacker that makes Farmer John products and Dodger Dogs agreed to pay nearly $440,000 and offer women hundreds of jobs to settle allegations of gender discrimination, federal officials said. Clougherty Packing Co. will pay the money to about 2,000 women whose applications for entry-level jobs were rejected between 2007 and 2009.
Texas Instruments To Cut Over 500 Jobs In France
December 18, 2012 10:31 am | News | CommentsChipmaker Texas Instruments says will lay off more than 500 people at a research and development plant near Nice, France, in the coming months. The Dallas-based company announced last month that it is eliminating 1,700 jobs worldwide as it cuts spending in its wireless business.
3 Workers Abducted At Syrian Steel Plant
December 17, 2012 1:53 pm | by Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press | News | CommentsThree workers at a Syrian steel plant, including an Italian, have been kidnapped, officials said Monday. Italy's foreign ministry did not say where or when the kidnappings occurred but that the plant is located in the regime stronghold of Latakia city on Syria's Mediterranean coast.
OECD: Trim Gender Gap To Boost Economies
December 17, 2012 11:24 am | by Greg Keller, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsWomen continue to earn less than men, are less likely to make it to the top of the career ladder and are more likely to spend their final years in poverty, according to "Closing the Gender Gap," released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
NRF Urges President Obama To Intervene In Port Negotiations
December 17, 2012 10:58 am | News | CommentsThe National Retail Federation today sent a letter to President Obama to express the retail industry’s growing concern if a contract agreement isn’t reached between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. The two sides have been in negotiations, with the assistance of federal mediators, for the past few months with little demonstrable progress.
One-Industry Towns Watch Economy Pass Them By
December 17, 2012 8:12 am | by Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press | News | CommentsThe closure of the 85-year-old Minas Basin mill is the latest blow for one-industry towns that have seen the economy pass them by, adding to the westward migration of skilled workers and draining the coffers of struggling communities. It is the third paper mill to shut down in Nova Scotia in a year.
NY GM Plant Adding Jobs For New Engines
December 14, 2012 8:56 am | News | CommentsGeneral Motors says it expects to add more than 500 jobs at a Buffalo-area plant that will make engines for the automaker's new versions of two popular pickup trucks. The V8 engines for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra line of pickups will go into production early next year.
Weekly Jobless Aid Applications Drop
December 13, 2012 9:29 am | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply for a fourth straight week, a sign that the job market may be improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months.
Amazon Plant Workers Report Breathing Trouble
December 12, 2012 11:05 pm | News | CommentsHealth officials in central Indiana are trying to determine what caused 32 workers at an Amazon.com Inc.'s warehouse and distribution center in Plainfield to complain about breathing problems. Plainfield assistant fire chief Brent Anderson says the department received a call shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday about a worker having difficulty breathing and chest pain.
Right-To-Work Law Gives Michigan Unions New Task
December 12, 2012 11:01 pm | by John Flesher, Associated Press | News | CommentsUnion leaders said it was too soon to predict how the laws would affect their membership and recruiting, partly because workers covered by existing labor contracts won't be able to stop paying union fees until those deals lapse — which in some cases will take several years.
Fed: High Unemployment For Next 3 Years
December 12, 2012 2:37 pm | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe latest economic forecasts released Wednesday after the Fed's final meeting of the year were little changed from September. But they coincided with a new communication strategy announced by the Fed that links future interest rate hikes with unemployment below 6.5 percent.
Avon Products To Cut 1,500 Jobs
December 12, 2012 10:22 am | News | CommentsAvon Products said it will cut about 1,500 jobs and exit two Asian markets — South Korea and Vietnam — as the struggling beauty products seller takes some initial steps toward its cost-cutting goal. The job cuts amount to almost 4 percent of its workforce and marked one of the first major moves by CEO Sheri McCoy.
Unions Support Miss. Plant In Exchange For Jobs
December 12, 2012 10:08 am | by Jeff Amy, Associated Press | News | CommentsMississippi Power Co.'s contractors have agreed to hire about 1,000 labor union members to build its Kemper County power plant, and a group of unions says it now supports the project. The unions had most recently opposed the plant because contractors for Mississippi Power were excluding union members from the $2.8 billion project.
U.S. Students Far From First In Math, Science
December 11, 2012 2:00 pm | by Josh Lederman, Associated Press | News | CommentsWringing their hands about what that reality portends for broader U.S. influence, policymakers worry it could have ripple effects on the economy down the line, with Americans increasingly at a competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace.
Employers Advertise More Jobs In October
December 11, 2012 11:18 am | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsU.S. employers advertised more jobs in October than September, a hopeful sign that hiring could pick up in the coming months. The Labor Department says job openings rose by 128,000 to 3.68 million. Even with the increase, the number of available jobs is still below the roughly 4 million that were advertised each month before the recession began in December 2007.
Ky. Plastics Plant Slated To Close
December 10, 2012 8:24 am | News | CommentsMilwaukee-based Johnson Controls plans to close a central Kentucky plastics manufacturing plant early next year, potentially putting nearly 400 employees out of work. The Courier-Journal reports that a mass layoff notice filed with the Kentucky Office of Employment & Training on Friday says up to 392 workers could be cut in February when the facility in Louisville closes.
Japan Utility Admits Shady Hiring At Nuke Plant
December 10, 2012 7:56 am | News | CommentsThe head of the utility behind Japan's nuclear crisis has acknowledged that hundreds of workers at the contaminated Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were mobilized through a murky hiring system. Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Naomi Hirose attributed the hiring problem to high worker turnover at the worksite.
Opel To End Car Production At German Plant
December 10, 2012 5:02 am | News | CommentsGeneral Motors Co.'s Opel unit plans to end car production at one plant in Germany in 2016, but a slimmed-down factory may continue to make components. Employees at the Bochum plant in northwestern Germany, one of four in the country, were told that vehicle production will end when the company stops making the current Zafira model.
Oscar Maker Plans Layoffs In Chicago
December 7, 2012 2:14 pm | News | CommentsThe Chicago company that makes the familiar gold-plated Oscar statues is laying off almost 100 employees. R.S. Owens & Co. Inc. said this week in a notice to the Illinois Department of Commerce that it will lay off 95 workers on Dec. 17. The cuts come a month after R.S Owens announced it was being purchased on Dec. 17 by St. Regis Crystal Inc. of Indianapolis.
UN Sees Slowing Growth In Worker Wages
December 7, 2012 1:47 pm | News | CommentsThe International Labor Organization says global monthly wages grew 1.2 percent in 2011, down from 3 percent in 2007, a year before the global financial crisis that led governments to bail out banks and take over insolvent companies. But ILO says the continued success of China weighs heavily in the calculation; without it, global real average wages grew by only 0.2 percent in 2011.
Fiat Cutting About 1,500 Jobs In Poland
December 7, 2012 11:45 am | News | CommentsThe Italian carmaker Fiat says it plans to cut about 1,500 jobs at a factory in Poland due to falling demand for cars on the European market. The layoffs amount to nearly a third of the site's workforce of 5,000. Fiat Auto Poland S.A., the company's Polish subsidiary, said that the "very negative situation" in the auto market is forcing the cuts.
Armstrong Plans To Hire 145 Workers In W.Va.
December 7, 2012 10:31 am | News | CommentsArmstrong World Industries plans to hire 145 workers at its Randolph County hardwood plant to meet increasing demand. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin confirmed the hirings Thursday at the 575-worker plant in Beverly. The Lancaster, Pa.-based company makes flooring, ceilings and cabinets.
Unemployment Rate Falls To 7.7 Percent
December 7, 2012 8:38 am | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe U.S. economy added a solid 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures. The Labor Department report offered a mixed picture for the economy.
Mich. Legislators Defy Unions, OK Right-To-Work
December 7, 2012 8:21 am | by Jeff Karoub and John Flesher, Associated Press | News | CommentsA victory in Michigan, a cradle of organized labor, would give the right-to-work movement its strongest foothold yet in the Rust Belt, where the 2010 election and tea party movement produced assertive Republican majorities that have dealt unions one body blow after another.
