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Institute
of Industrial Relations Library
Labor and Employment Weblog
University of California, Berkeley |
Updated
5/3/2004; 3:26:42 PM
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Friday, April 09, 2004 |
Tough choices for city schools, teachers, volunteers. A budget crunch is forcing the district to cut 900 teaching positions. That means the loss of not only the hardworking Teach for America crew, but also hundreds of veteran teachers who are certified and likely have their master's degrees, as 67 percent of Detroit teachers do. The Detroit Free Press Apr 9 2004 8:38AM GMT
4:32:00 PM 
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OSHA Touts Fewer Mexican Worker Deaths. The U.S. Department of Labor is citing a one-year drop in Mexican-born worker deaths as evidence that, because of its outreach efforts, a national epidemic of on-the-job fatalities among these immigrants is no longer worsening.
AP via Baltimore Sun Apr 8 2004 8:05PM GMT
4:30:22 PM
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Job losses at Sony plant in Zaventem Belgium. On Friday morning 110 engineers at the Sony plant in Zaventem, near Brussels, received a collective notice of redundancy. The electronic giant is to either stop its research of software, or transfer the development to the UK or Japan.
Radio Vlaanderen International Apr 9 2004 1:00PM GMT
4:26:26 PM
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Educators Flocking to Finland, Land of Literate Children. One trait sets Finland apart from many other countries, it is the quality and social standing of its teachers, said Barry Macgaw, the director for education at the O.E.C.D. All teachers in Finland must have at least a master's degree, and while they are no better paid than teachers in other countries, the profession is highly respected. Many more people want to become teachers after graduating from upper schools than universities can actually handle, so the vast majority are turned down. New York Times Apr 9 2004 2:54AM GMT
4:23:35 PM
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Union gives notice of possible strike against SBC. SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The Communications Workers of America have given a 30-day notice to SBC Communications Inc. that the union could call a strike against the giant telecommunications company if no agreement is reached on a new contract. SiliconValley.com Apr 8 2004 10:15PM GMT
4:21:22 PM
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Navy contractor workers arrested for immigration violations. SAN DIEGO – Thirty-one employees of a Navy contractor who have access to military installations and vessels were arrested Thursday on immigration charges, authorities said.
 The suspects worked in San Diego for Continental Maritime, a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News division. They worked in ship maintenance jobs, including welding, painting, mechanics and pipefitting. SignOn San Diego Apr 9 2004 2:41AM GMT
4:19:53 PM
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Jobs go at UK plastics company.
Sixty jobs are to go in County Fermanagh with the closure of the Kent Plastics factory. The plant, which has made car parts for almost 40 years, was earmarked for closure three months ago after it lost orders from its main customer. The site at Derrychara is to be taken over by supermarket chain Safeway.
The main customer of the Enniskillen firm, Visteon, is moving production elsewhere to reduce costs. Talks about the firm's future had taken place between management and the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) However, at the time the TGWU conceded said there was little hope left. BBC Apr 9 2004 9:04AM GMT
4:18:59 PM
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Caterpillar, UAW agree to extend contract. PEORIA, Ill. -- Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers have extended their contract until April 18 while they continue to negotiate a new pact. AP via Seattle Post Intelligencer Apr 1 2004 5:03AM GMT
4:12:39 PM
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Population fell in S.F., other parts of Bay Area. Stymied by a slowly rebounding economy and saddled with a low birthrate, San Francisco lost 10,301 people from July 1, 2002 to July 1, 2003, by far the most -- both in sheer numbers and percentage-wise -- of the seven counties statewide that saw population losses. Alameda, San Mateo and Marin counties, as well as Santa Cruz County and two others, also experienced a drop in residents, according to the data released by the Census Bureau. San Francisco Chronicle Apr 9 2004 11:09AM GMT
4:06:20 PM
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Akron Ohio will resume regular library hours. The library board recently approved restoring hours after voters approved a new operating levy in March. The hours were cut in January after voters defeated an operating levy last November. Akron Beacon Journal Apr 9 2004 9:10AM GMT
4:05:08 PM
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French power workers cut electricity. PARIS (AP) - Striking French power workers switched off street lights and cut electricity to homes Thursday to protest against plans to partially privatize public utilities. CNEWS Apr 9 2004 7:12AM GMT
4:03:34 PM
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OECD says econ prospects improve, some weak signals. PARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - Economic prospects improved again in the OECD's latest monthly "early warning" indicator, but the 30-member group of industrial powers also saw signals of weakening in the United States and the euro zone. Reuters Apr 9 2004 10:02AM GMT
4:01:20 PM
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Canadian dollar drops sharply as Canada sheds jobs The Canadian economy shed 13,300 jobs in March, the second consecutive monthly decline, sparking a sharp drop in the dollar and increasing the odds the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates again next week. Globe & Mail [GAM]
3:58:17 PM
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U.N. agency says Cambodian garment factories improved labor conditions. Cambodian garment factories have made improvements in ensuring that their workers receive the wages they have earned, but still have problems regarding forced overtime, the U.N. International Labor Organization said Friday. San Francisco Chronicle Apr 9 2004 2:28PM GMT
3:50:25 PM
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Mozambique: Minimum Wage: Unions Call for Flexibility. At the end of a meeting on Thursday, the OTM leadership said negotiations should be guided by the principle of improving the living standards of workers. The OTM warned that it was unacceptable to introduce "weighting factors" into the negotiations which resulted in holding down wages. AllAfrica.com Apr 9 2004 3:35PM GMT
3:39:26 PM
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Nigeria: Workers' Welfare Must Be Paramount - Minister. He emphasised that the responsibility of checking labour unrest in the country was not the duty of the federal government alone but that of the industrialists as well because they are employers of thousands of workers, stressing that it is only then that government would have relative peace and less problems. AllAfrica.com Apr 9 2004 3:35PM GMT
3:38:45 PM
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Companies Understand Themselves By Powerpoint. While there are some who still believe Powerpoint is evil, it's become a standard necessity in every day business life. In fact, David Weinberger suggests that Powerpoint is how companies understand themselves. It's replaced the company story and has become "the company myth," so that employees themselves can understand the organization they belong to. Even in creating a sales pitch, companies focus on creating the Powerpoint slides - mostly because it reinforces their own understanding of the company they work for. While there are both good and bad results that come out of this, I think it's also a statement on corporate culture. Who gets to write the official version? While you can make changes on your own, you tend to leave the corporate story alone. While I'm not sure it's for everyone, I'd think that more "bottom up" style corporations would be better off using something like a wiki to define the corporate story. If you're building a story around the corporate culture, shouldn't those participating be a part of writing the story as well? [Techdirt]
3:33:38 PM
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Landless squatters settle on Stora Enso land in Brazil. Infoshop Apr 9 2004 4:00PM GMT
Members of Brazil's Landless Peasants' Movement have taken over an area of eucalyptus forest that was planted for the production of raw material for the Veracel pulp factory. The factory, which is to be built in the state of Bahia, is jointly owned by the Brazilian company Aracruz and the Finnish Stora Enso. A group of about 2,000 farmers reportedly entered the area earlier this week, clearing away cultivating eucalyptus trees, and planting agricultural plants. The aim of the action was to speed up Brazilian land reform. Reuters News Agency reports that more than 10,000 farming families have been on the move recently, occupying land to back up their demands for speedier implementation of reform in land ownership. Stora Enso's manager for media and public affairs, Jorma Westlund, told the Finnish News Agency STT on Wednesday that the land occupation was a demonstration aimed at influencing land reform, which is part of Brazil's internal politics. "We do not feel that we are parties to this demonstration", Westlund said.
Stora Enso says that about 2,000 people had cleared away trees in an area covering about 20 hectares that had been growing for about a year. Last year Stora Enso decided to join up with Aracruz in the pulp factory project, aimed at producing about 900,000 tonnes of eucalyptus-based pulp a year from next year. Under the deal, Stora Enso is to get half of the pulp that is produced. Veracel owns about 70,000 hectares of planted eucalyptus forest.
3:22:03 PM
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New Zealand business survey points to economic downturn. The shortage of labour is the biggest block to increasing activity for a net 23 per cent of firms - the highest per centage in 30 years. It is affecting building firms, manufacturers and service firms. Gloom descended on the business community in the March quarter after a rise in interest rates, turning the building sector pessimistic.
Exporters became even more gloomy as the dollar hit a seven-year high against the United States dollar in February, before easing back recently. Marlborough Express Apr 9 2004 5:55PM GMT
3:10:03 PM
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Boeing looks to unload Midwest plants. Boeing employs 12,400 people in the region, according to the Journal. The Chicago-based aerospace giant is looking to sell off a fuselage-assembly plant in Wichita, Kansas, and two smaller Oklahoma facilities. AFP via Yahoo! Apr 9 2004 3:54PM GMT
3:05:57 PM
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State awards more than $1M in training grants. The state has awarded more than $1 million in grants to help train workers at Southeast Michigan companies and elsewhere in the state. Crains Detroit Business Apr 9 2004 7:39PM GMT
3:03:02 PM
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Pension reform cheers United, employees. United Airlines and its unions hailed congressional passage Thursday of pension reform legislation that is considered key to the carrier's bid to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year. The bill would grant airlines and steel companies, as well as Greyhound, a two-year delay in paying the substantially steeper payments that are required over the next two years to their underfunded employee pension plans, in light of their economic hardships. ChicagoBusiness.com Apr 9 2004 4:01PM GMT
3:01:19 PM
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Copyright
2004
Janice Kimball
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