div class=flexinode-body flexinode-1div class=flexinode-textarea-2div class=form-item
labelHeadlines:/labelbr /
ul
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9978GM Says Retirement Secure/a/li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9979GM Considers Cutting Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab/a/li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9980World’s Largest Steel Producer Considers 9000 Job Cuts/a/li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9981Economic Report: Black Friday Likely To Be Bleak Friday/a/li
/ul
/div
/div/div
pWith construction starts on the decline, the demand for steel is on the decline. As a result ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is considering 9000 job cuts. The company already announced earlier this month that it would be cutting output by 30 percent. The job cuts won’t come from production, but from sales and administration./p
pWith construction starts on the decline the demand for steel is on the decline. As a result ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is considering 9000 job cuts. The company already announced earlier this month that it would be cutting output by 30 percent. The job cuts won’t come from production, but from sales and administration./p
pLede: Retirement security for workers is taking a huge hit as pension funds post big losses, but GM says its pension fund remains strong. Doug Cunningham reports./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pIronically the huge pensions fund at General Motors is actually in pretty good shape. But the 100 biggest company pension funds in the U.S. took a huge hit in October – losing a combined $120 billion in value according to consulting firm Milliman, Inc. This will mean potentially huge cash infusions into these funds in 2009 if they are to meet legal requirements for solvency. Miliman estimates $92 billion will need to be injected into these top 100 funds during 2009 to keep them afloat. This could lead to some pensions being frozen, which means workers take a real hit. At GM Nancy Everett, CEO of GM Asset Management, told the New York Times the GM pension fund remains viable despite the economic shocks we’re enduring. GM changed the asset allocation of its fund several years ago, with just 26 percent of it now in stocks. In 2003 GM sold more than $14 billion in bonds, putting the proceeds into the fund. It also put proceeds from its sale of /p
pLede: Retirement security for workers is taking a huge hit as pension funds post big losses, but GM says its pension fund remains strong. Doug Cunningham reports./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pIronically the huge pensions fund at General Motors is actually in pretty good shape. But the 100 biggest company pension funds in the U.S. took a huge hit in October – losing a combined $120 billion in value according to consulting firm Milliman, Inc. This will mean potentially huge cash infusions into these funds in 2009 if they are to meet legal requirements for solvency. Miliman estimates $92 billion will need to be injected into these top 100 funds during 2009 to keep them afloat. This could lead to some pensions being frozen, which means workers take a real hit. At GM Nancy Everett, CEO of GM Asset Management, told the New York Times the GM pension fund remains viable despite the economic shocks we’re enduring. GM changed the asset allocation of its fund several years ago, with just 26 percent of it now in stocks. In 2003 GM sold more than $14 billion in bonds, putting the proceeds into the fund. It also put proceeds from its sale of /p
Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice and author of Wage Theft in America, urges us to put the meaning of Thanksgiving into action. (Our interview with Bobo on wage theft also can be read here.)
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is an official day to give thanks for all we have and all we can do. It is a time to relax with friends and family. Unlike some other holidays, there are few shopping expectations, house decorating requirements or religious service responsibilities. And aside from my butter-laden cooking, Thanksgiving is a day of relaxing, giving thanks and reflecting.
But the opportunity to relax, give thanks and reflect upon all we’ve been given helps us discern how we can do more or be more effective in our work for justice. Giving thanks is not a meaningless gesture. Giving thanks stops our complaining about things we want while others lack things they need. Giving thanks compels us to figure out how we can use the gifts and resources we’ve been given to help those most in need.
div class=flexinode-body flexinode-1div class=flexinode-textarea-2div class=form-item
labelHeadlines:/labelbr /
ul
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/9966For U.S. Auto Execs, It’s A Working Thanksgiving Weekenda//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/9967Google Significantly Cuts Back Its Use Of Contractorsa//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/9968Iraq Vets Against The War To “Occupy” San Francisco’s Union Square Fridaya//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/9969Smithfield Foods Workers Will Vote On Union Representation December 10-11tha//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/9970Midwest Airlines Flight Attendants To Picket On Busiest Travel Daya//li
/div
/div/div
pEconomic Report:/p
pSales of new homes in the U.S. fell by 5.3 percent in October according to a Commerce Department report released on Wednesday. The drop puts home sales at their lowest level since 1991. The South and the West were hit the hardest with the south losing 6 percent of sales and the West losing 18 percent. The Midwest and the Northeast made gains. The Northeast saw a healthy increase of 22.6 percent while the Midwest was up 6 percent./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pOn the busiest travel day of the year – Sunday, November 30, flight attendants at Midwest Airlines will picket in Milwaukee. Represented by the Association of Flight Attendants –CWA, the workers are protesting the continued outsourcing of jobs at Midwest Airlines. This holiday season 75 percent of flight attendants at Midwest are without work./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pWorkers at Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Tar Heel North Carolina will vote on whether or not to form a union December 10-11th. The United Food and Commercial Workers have helped workers there fight for a union for years. Smithfield was guilty of labor law violations in earlier elections and has been the focus over the years of intense public campaigns by the UFCW./p
Recent Comments