HR and Labor News

EXCERPT: "The Labor Department is hiring 150 more investigators to enforce wage and child labor laws in the wake of a government probe that found the agency failed to effectively fight wage theft over the last few years.

The stepped-up hiring is a signal to employers that attempts to dodge full payment of wages will be met with new focus, and the latest sign of the increasingly vigorous approach to workplace regulation President Barack Obama vowed his Labor Department would take.

In addition to the 150 investigators being hired to help enforce wage and child labor laws, the department is hiring another 100 investigators in Wage and Hour as part of the government stimulus plan to ensure contractors on stimulus projects are in compliance with applicable laws. The total of 250 will increase staff in the division by more than a third."

By Melanie Trottman, The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123801442734541143.html

EXCERPT: General Motors Corp. has persuaded more than 6,000 United Auto Workers members to take buyouts, meeting internal company goals and almost doubling a Barclays Capital estimate, people familiar with the results said.

The Detroit-based automaker will announce the participation today, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the tally is unofficial. The buyouts, about 10 percent of GM’s UAW workforce, may open slots for GM to hire workers for half the current union rate. Terms on $13.4 billion in U.S. loans require GM labor costs to match Japanese automakers in the U.S.

“I would have expected 4 or 5 percent of the workers,” said Richard Block, a labor professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing. “Ten percent suggests a lot of people were pushed out by the uncertainty.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSyD1Z8dpimk&refer=home
By Jeff Green, Bloomberg, March 26, 2009

Free videos of the November 18th Senate hearing on the domestic automobile industry are available on CSPAN's webpage.

11/18/2008 Domestic Automobile Industry, Panel 1
Includes testimony from Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow.

11/18/2008 Domestic Automobile Industry, Panel 2
Includes testimony from the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors as well as Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President.

Link: http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2008/thanksgiving/

What activities do you have planned for this Thanksgiving? Perhaps cooking and enjoying a meal with family or friends, playing sports or watching sports on television, doing volunteer work, or shopping? Here’s a look at some BLS data behind those Thanksgiving scenes.

Link: http://www.freep.com/article/20081117/BUSINESS01/81117063

by Todd Spangler
Detroit Free Press Washington Staff
November 17, 2008

Excerpt: "Even some Democrats in the U.S. Senate have harsh words for Detroit’s automakers as a bailout bill for the industry is bandied about. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said a $25 billion bailout of the industry may be necessary given the state of the economy but it must be conditioned on the loans being paid back and the senior management of General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC being removed."