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Mais Oui! French Prez Is Friend to Business

Sarkozy embraces entrepreneurs, pushes limits on worker's rights

(Newser) - France could see a longer work week and new limits on workers' right to strike if President Nicholas Sarkozy gets his way. He's already reduced wealth taxes on certain investments and practically eliminated the inheritance tax, the Los Angeles Times reports. But supporters insist he will not erode social benefits...

Inflation-Free Growth Is Too Good to Last

Inflation and higher interest rates could cool world markets

(Newser) - Globalization and access to low-cost labor has allowed the world economy to grow without high inflation, but this economist's dream may soon end, the Wall Street Journal predicts in a cautionary report. Demand for everything from workers to lumber is increasing, raising prices—and the prospect of higher inflation.

Globalization Has a Hard Chocolate Shell

Hershey to shutter Calif. operation, cut thousands of jobs

(Newser) - In a "global supply-chain transformation," Hershey will slash its domestic workforce and build a plant in Mexico. The chocolate giant projects savings of tens of millions of dollars a year, but the numbers don't mean much in Oakdale, Calif., where 575 employees will be our of their jobs...

Congress Hikes Minimum Wage
Congress Hikes Minimum Wage
May 25, 2007 5:08 AM CDT

Congress Hikes Minimum Wage

National minimum goes to $7.25 by 2009, small business gets tax breaks

(Newser) - Congress has raised the national minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. The hike, part of a compromise between the White House and Congress over Iraq funding, will take effect in three stages over the next two years. It will...

Guest Worker Program Slashed
Guest Worker Program Slashed
May 24, 2007 7:30 AM CDT

Guest Worker Program Slashed

Senate immigration bill is assaulted by amendments from bipartisan critics

(Newser) - Key provisions of the immigration bill were altered yesterday as the Senate passed a raft of amendments designed to make the bill more palatable to critics from both political parties.  Provisions to beef up security at the border  were strengthened, while the guest worker program offering two-year visas to...

Accord Reached On Trade Deals
Accord Reached On Trade Deals
May 11, 2007 6:26 AM CDT

Accord Reached On Trade Deals

Dems, White House agree to labor and environmental protection in pacts

(Newser) - Democrats have struck a deal with the White House that beefs up labor and environmental standards in pending free-trade pacts, clearing the way for agreements with Peru, Panama,  South Korea, and Colombia. Provisions will be written into future deals banning forced labor, child labor and workplace discrimination, the Washington ...

Unions Fire Warning Shots At Sarkozy

French labor leaders hint at general strikes

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy could be on a collision course with French labor unions over  his "economic evolution." The president-elect wooed voters with proposals to extend the 35-hour work week, slash welfare, curb the right to strike and cut taxes. But even as Sarkozy headed to Malta before taking office...

Steep GM Drop Puts Heat on Labor Talks

Poor sales in North America point to showdown with unions

(Newser) - General Motors, swimming in losses despite major cuts in spending, saw its bottom line plunge a staggering 90% in the first quarter. Somewhat improved automotive profits, especially in emerging markets, were undercut by heavy losses from defaults on high-risk home loans at lending unit GMAC.

Study: Men Work Hard, Too
Study: Men Work Hard, Too
Apr 18, 2007 1:33 PM CDT

Study: Men Work Hard, Too

(Newser) - Men and women work about the same number of hours—if you count labor at home as well as on the job, a new study claims. Despite the popular wisdom that women do more heavy lifting, a broad survey of 25 countries, spanning the economic spectrum,  found that both...

Micky D Gives Migrants a Raise
Micky D Gives
Migrants a Raise
Apr 10, 2007 10:50 AM CDT

Micky D Gives Migrants a Raise

Penny-a-pound increase for tomato pickers sets industry standard

(Newser) - The cent-a-pound increase McDonald's agreed to grant their tomato-picking field hands yesterday may sound like, well, pennies, but it represents a more than 70% raise, the Chicago Tribune reports. And the deal was hailed as paving the way for negotiations between migrant workers and other corporate Goliaths across the country.

India Short On Skilled Workers
India Short On Skilled Workers
Apr 9, 2007 10:42 AM CDT

India Short On Skilled Workers

Despite the tech boom, a third of the country is still illiterate

(Newser) - Why is India short on skilled labor when it's teeming with Ph.D.s? While the staggering growth of its tech industry seems to have put the country in the running for the world’s next superpower, James Surowiecki observes that the Bengal tiger could be made of paper. Thirty...

Thumb Prints Produce Cash in Rural India

New biometric ATMs help the illiterate poor get wages faster

(Newser) - Payday in rural India now comes with the scan of a fingerprint: Brand new biometric cash machines are letting illiterate laborers collect their meager wages hassle-free. Account holders are issued an ATM card bearing their thumb print information; when they withdraw money, they follow voice commands to retrieve their wages....

Guestworker Abuses Cited
Guestworker Abuses Cited
Mar 12, 2007 1:57 PM CDT

Guestworker Abuses Cited

(Newser) - American employers are systematically exploiting the 120,000 low-skilled guest workers they hire each year, from stealing passports and Social Security cards to consistently underpaying them. “I felt like an animal without claws—defenseless. It is the same as slavery,” says one worker, in a report published today...

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