The deal will mean no base wage increases for workers "in these challenging times" for the automakers, but they will get a "cost of living increase."...More
The union has staged 28 partial strikes since stoppages began on July 13, cutting production by more than 82,000 vehicles valued at $1.5 billion....More
The Fair Labor Association said Foxconn, was ahead of schedule in making improvements sought after reports of harsh working conditions at the Chinese plants making Apple devices....More
Federal wage and hour lawsuits are on the rise. More than 7,000 such lawsuits were filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act in the 12-month period ending March 31, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases, according to data supplied by law firm Seyfarth Shaw.
The total number filed was 7,064....More
With manufacturing cited (70%) as the single most important industry for a country’s economic health, a recent survey asked global manufacturers which factors are necessary for achieving success in the segment.
Manufacturers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, the U.K., and U.S. ranked labor productivity (74%) at the top....More
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Jun 28th by a 5-4 vote to let the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) stand. Immediately following, a CEO of one of the nation's largest insurance companies was asked if people can expect their premiums to go up as this law is implemented. The answer was yes. So what can employers do to protect themselves from the inevitable?...More
GM and the MetalWorkers Union in Sao Jose dos Campos said the two sides agreed not to make any decision regarding the anticipated closure of a struggling production line until Aug. 4 talks....More
San Antonio-based Sterling Foods has agreed to pay more than $58,000 in back pay and interest to six employees as part of a National Labor Relations Board settlement on charges of unfair labor practices....More
Although presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has emphasized that he has not had a management role at Bain Capital since 1999, workers at a Bain-owned factory in Freeport, Ill., are pleading with Romney to intervene and persuade Bain to keep the jobs in America....More
Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said it will sack 440 Australian workers as it scales back production due to muted demand, despite a multimillion-dollar government bailout earlier this year.
Ford (IW 500/6) said the jobs will be shed from its manufacturing plants in southern Australia's Geelong and Broadmeadows as part of a sweeping restructure to address plunging sales of its once-popular larger passenger vehicles, such as the Falcon saloon and the Territory SUV....More
The number of U.S. employers planning to cut jobs in June dropped to a 13-month low as companies seek to secure skilled workers, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. reported Thursday.
All major manufacturing sectors that Challenger tracks, including industrial goods, consumer products, aerospace and defense, and computers saw job cuts decline in June.
The number of planned job cuts in June was 9.4% lower than the previous year. U.S.-based employers announced job cuts totaling 37,551 during the month, down 39% from May....More
The lockout was announced almost two weeks into a massive strike by more than 700 North Sea oil workers over pensions which, according to employers' organization OLF, has led to losses worth tens of millions of euros a day....More
The pros and cons of right-to-work (RTW) laws have been debated for decades. Indiana’s recent conversion to RTW has given fresh life to the debate, especially in the Midwest. Do RTW laws increase job creation? Do they lower wages? Are they good for states? Will other Midwestern states be forced to follow suit to compete for new jobs and investment?...More
The U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of the key provisions of President Obama's Affordable Care Act was met with disdain from Republicans, jubilation from Democrats and mixed reactions from the manufacturing community...More
The Supreme Court upheld Barack Obama's health care reforms to insure another 32 million Americans on June 28 in a major victory for the president in the heat of a tight re-election contest.
Limitations were placed on the expansion of coverage to 16 million more poor Americans, but the key payment provision on Obama's signature domestic achievement, the individual mandate, was upheld in a tight 5-4 vote....More
Fixing GM's own operations in Europe remains the company's top priority. GM does have new labor agreements with unions in both Poland and Great Britain....More
Posting requirement is an unprecedented attempt by the Board to assert power and authority it does not possess, says NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons....More
Dialogue introducing new forecasting study on what the economy might look like in 2025 with a manufacturing resurgence. Video from the Aspen Institute....More
Manufacturing makes America strong. It makes families and communities strong. It provides national security. It gives us energy security. And for the 12 million men and women who work in manufacturing, it gives us pride....More
Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingComputers.com demonstrates how Big Data is transforming the business and industrial worlds and enabling new technologies and new breakthroughs that will help manufacturers work more efficiently than ever before....More
Beyond an initial novelty, 3D Printing could have a game-changing impact on consumer culture, copyright and patent law, and even the very concept of scarcity on which our economy is based....More
Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingTheFuture.com illustrates the inner workings of additive manufacturing machines and provides some real-life examples of how 3-D printing technology could dramatically change the manufacturing and retail industries as we know them today....More
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab break down the engineering and design challenges they faced during the Curiosity rover's complicated landing near the Martian equator on Aug. 5, 2012....More
