Labor and Employment

• Wachovia loses $8.9B, cuts 6,350 workers, dividend
  AP ( 22, 2008)
  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Wachovia Corp. reported a surprisingly large second-quarter loss Tuesday, deflating Wall Street's hopes that the nation's big banks are weathering the credit crisis well. The nation's fourth-largest bank by assets said it lost $8.86 billion, is slashing its dividend and eliminating 10,750 positions after losses tied to mortgages soared.
   
  
• Unemployment, stocks push down leading indicators
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Factories laying off workers, stocks tumbling and shoppers ditching their credit cards forced the economy to contract in June, a trend likely to continue in the second half of 2008, a private business group said Monday.
   
  
• NTSB's 8 proposals to bar medically unfit drivers
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  (AP) - Since 2003, the National Transportation Safety Board has put medical oversight of commercial truck and bus drivers on its "most wanted" list, calling the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's overall response "unacceptable."
   
  
• Medically unfit truck drivers still on roads
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver's licenses desp
   
  
• Qantas Airways to cut 1,500 jobs worldwide
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's flagship carrier, said Friday it will slash 1,500 jobs worldwide and abandon plans to create 1,200 more as it tries to deal with skyrocketing fuel costs.
   
  
• Report: Danger from electrical work in Iraq severe
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report.
   
  
• SAG stakes fight on made-for-Internet content
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Screen Actors Guild on Thursday gave its most detailed explanation yet for its rejection of a final contract offer by Hollywood studios, citing shortfalls in pay and union jurisdiction on made-for-Internet productions.
   
  
• Feds look to tighten English law for truckers
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Manuel Castillo was driving a truck through Alabama hauling onions and left with a $500 ticket for something he didn't think he was doing: speaking English poorly.
   
  
• More people sign up for jobless benefits
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of newly laid-off people signing up for jobless benefits went up last week as companies keep work forces lean given the economy's slowdown.
   
  
• McDonald's Nev. franchisee to pay $1 million fine
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - A McDonald's Corp. franchisee will pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty in Las Vegas federal court to felony immigration offenses for giving false Social Security numbers to illegal aliens.
   
  
• Brazil oil strike negotiations stall
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Negotiations between striking Brazilian oil workers and state oil company Petrobras stalled late Wednesday with no immediate end of the walkout in sight.
   
  
• British public workers go on strike
  AP ( 16, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - Thousands of British local government employees began a two-day strike over pay on Wednesday.
   
  
• Workers break retirement piggy bank in tight times
  AP ( 16, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Americans are raiding their already fragile retirement piggy banks to weather financial hardships such as unemployment, medical emergencies and buying a home.
   
  
• GM to cut salaried workers, production, dividend
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off salaried workers, cut truck production, suspend its dividend and borrow $2 billion to $3 billion to weather a severe downturn in the U.S. market.
   
  
• Volkswagen selects Tennessee for US auto plant
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Volkswagen picked Chattanooga over rival sites in two other states for a new U.S. assembly plant expected to create about 2,000 jobs.
   
  
• Hollywood producers say SAG rejects contract offer
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Unable for weeks to agree on terms for a new contract, Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild have now found themselves unable to agree on whether negotiations will continue.
   
  
• NYC cement drivers' strike settled, union says
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - A 10-day strike by cement truck drivers who work at some of New York City's biggest construction sites has been settled.
   
  
• Toyota will start making Prius hybrid in US
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  DETROIT (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp., the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that saw its U.S. sales double in the last decade, has come back down to earth. Stung by rare double-digit sales declines and burdened by a growing inventory of slow-selling pickups, Toyota said Thursday it will start produ
   
  
• Jobless claims dip but labor market still weak
  AP ( 10, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer people signed up for unemployment benefits last week, but not enough to obscure continuing weakness in the country's labor market.
   
  
• Toyota making US manufacturing changes
  AP ( 10, 2008)
  DETROIT (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. will start producing the hybrid Prius in the U.S. for the first time as the Japanese automaker adjusts its U.S. manufacturing operations to meet customer demands for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
   
  
• Japan bureau rules that man died of overwork at 45
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota Motor Corp.'s top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest decision against overwork in Japan, where stoic acceptance of extended overtime has long been the norm.
   
  
• Actors union ratifies deal with Hollywood studios
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - The labor drama gripping Hollywood is now entering its final act after one actors group said its members ratified a new deal and the other prepared to turn down the major studios' final offer.
   
  
• Bovis, Redrow slashing staff by 40 pct
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - U.K. homebuilders Bovis Homes Group PLC and Redrow PLC each said Wednesday they were slashing staff by 40 percent - more signs of the distress in Britain's dismal and deteriorating housing market.
   
  
• Siemens cutting 17K jobs worldwide to cut costs
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Tuesday it will cut 16,750 jobs, or 4.2 percent of its global work force, to streamline operations and slice nearly $2 billion in costs in the face of a slowing economy.
   
  
• Kroger says employees ratify agreement
  AP ( 007, 2008)
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Grocery-store chain The Kroger Co. on Monday said its employees who are members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1995 in some cities ratified a new labor agreement with the company.
   
  
• GM said to consider more cuts as market shrinks
  AP ( 007, 2008)
  DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. may get rid of some brands, speed the introduction of small cars from other markets and make further white-collar job cuts as it tries to deal with a shrinking U.S. auto market.
   
  
• American workers brace for thousands of job cuts
  AP ( 003, 2008)
  DALLAS (AP) - Many more job cuts, likely totaling more than 6,000, are likely at American Airlines as the nation's biggest airline hunkers down and tries to survive record high fuel costs.
   
  
• Payrolls drop by 62,000; jobless rate steady
  AP ( 003, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Labor Department says payrolls dropped by 62,000 and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, the price of oil is approaching $146 a barrel for the first time.
   
  
• Employers cut jobs for 6th straight month
  AP ( 003, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent.
   
  
• Actors' union, theater producers reach agreement
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - The actors' union and Broadway theater producers have reached a tentative agreement for a new, 39-month contract that covers Broadway shows and touring productions.
   
  
• UnitedHealth cuts 4,000 jobs and 2008 outlook
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - UnitedHealth Group Inc. will cut at least 4,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, in a restructuring and warned Wednesday that a weaker environment and higher costs will cut into profits this year.
   
  
• British truckers protest fuel prices in London
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - Hundreds of truckers drove to Britain's Parliament on Wednesday to protest the rising cost of fuel.
   
  
• Cement-truck drivers strike in New York City
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of cement-truck drivers went on strike days before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, disrupting some of the largest construction projects in the city including the World Trade Center site.
   
  
• Starbucks to close 600 US stores, rein in growth
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  SEATTLE (AP) - For a decade it appeared there was no such thing as too many Starbucks for U.S. coffee drinkers, whose willingness to buy its $4 lattes and dark drip brews rationalized a second green-and-white mermaid awning just down the street - and sometimes even a third.
   
  
• Minn. judge rules against Wal-Mart on work breaks
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A judge has ruled against Wal-Mart in a class-action lawsuit, saying the discount retailer violated state labor laws 2 million times by cutting worker break time and forcing employees to work off the clock.
   
  
• Moody's says personnel fail to follow guidelines
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday it began disciplinary proceedings against workers involved in reviewing certain European debt ratings.
   
  
• Pause after Screen Actors Guild contract expires
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - The contract between movie and TV actors and major Hollywood studios expired early Tuesday after the studios made a final offer and the Screen Actors Guild said it would take more than a day to study it.
   
  
• BofA to cut 7,500 jobs after Countrywide deal
  AP ( 27, 2008)
  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bank of America said Thursday it will cut about 7,500 jobs after it closes its acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.
   
  
• After-tax incomes and spending show big gains
  AP ( 27, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The millions of economic stimulus payments gave a massive jolt to household finances in May, sending after-tax incomes up by the largest amount in 33 years.
   
  
• Jobless claims hold steady
  AP ( 26, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - New filings for unemployment benefits held steady last week but were still at a high level, pointing to a cooler jobs market.
   
  
• Study: Defined contribution plans quickly changing
  AP ( 26, 2008)
  CHICAGO (AP) - Once just a supplement to the pension system, defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s are growing and changing fast as they evolve into a linchpin of Americans' retirement savings and offer increasingly innovative investment options, a new study indicates.
   
  
• SAG says studios offered more to sister union
  AP ( 26, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Screen Actors Guild on Wednesday accused major Hollywood studios of offering a contract deal worth less than an agreement approved by the leaders of a smaller actors union.
   
  
• NY's top court affirms dropping 4 claims against Grasso
  AP ( 25, 2008)
  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York's top court backed a lower court in throwing out four of the state's six claims against former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso's $187.5 million compensation package, saying the attorney general at the time had exceeded his authority.